Aquamarine
by Scultone
Summary: Lir is an independent mage with an 'incurable fear of being tied down.' While visiting Magnolia, she is literally thrown into Fairy Tail and discovers it isn't like any other guild she's ever encountered. As she gets to know the strange and excitable members, she starts to let them have a permanent place in her life.
1. I Am A River

Chapter 1: I Am A River

Magnolia was a town filled to the borders with energy and opportunity, every street was teeming with people and lined with specialty shops and restaurants. The bright colors and sweet smells were almost overwhelming, but Lir Elodea wasn't able to enjoy any of that on account of her severe motion sickness. She staggered off the train, stomach churning, and head spinning. It had only been a measly hour and a half trip, but she felt as though she had spent the last month riding a tilt-a-whirl.

"Never again…" She muttered to herself as she ambled towards a bench.

She fell on it with all the grace of a sack of rocks and, with shaking hands, pulled a map and a water bottle out of her backpack. After chugging half the water her head began to clear and the nausea faded away, and the map stopped looking like incoherent squiggles. She rubbed her eyes and scanned the city blocks for the tiny print name 'Black Agate,' a shop that specialized in charms and gem based magic. Much to her annoyance, it was halfway across the city; hopefully, the remaining nausea would wear off before she got there. After taking a deep, steadying breath she stood up and started off down the street.

It was always nice to be in towns with mage guilds because the denizens didn't give her strange stares since they were used to seeing mages on a regular basis. Those who didn't use magic typically had more neutral hair colors and less eccentric appearances in general, making her teal hair and blue tattoos stand out more.

She walked slowly, scanning each of the stores having no idea what Black Agate looked like. Vendors tried to sell her random trinkets, knick knacks and food and small children kept running right in front of her. She was not good at navigating crowds and repeatedly bumped into people; a downside of spending the last several months in the wilderness she supposed.

Even though her tracking skills were rendered useless on the town streets, she eventually found the store and slipped inside. The interior was made of sleek glass and stainless steel which served as a neutral backdrop to the rainbow of gems, crystals, and jewelry that seemed to make up the entire inventory. It only then occurred to her that she had no idea what she was looking for. She figured there would be a big sign that said 'charms for defense' and she would pick the least ostentatious one. Reality turned out to be far more overwhelming.

She wandered up the first aisle letting her eyes wander over the shelves, trying to make sense of the different shapes and colors. A stone comprised of varying shades of brown bands caught her eye; brown was a protective color… right? The 8000 jewel price tag made her grimace and put it back down. She couldn't afford to guess wrong so she walked to the front counter where a middle-aged woman with baby pink hair stood.

"Can I help you, miss?" The woman asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if you had any charms to boost defensive power."

"Of course. I assume you're a fighting mage?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And what type of magic do you use?"

"Water dragon slayer magic."

"Oh my, that's a lost magic, right?"

"Yes."

"Hold on just a moment." The woman said before disappearing into the back room.

Lir leaned against the counter and examined the small, trinket stones. An orange gem on the end of a thin chain caught her eye and she picked it up to hold it in the light. However, having no idea what it was and considering there was a 4000 jewel price tag hanging off of it, she put it back down. The defense charm was going to bleed her of all extra cash anyway.

Then, the woman returned and placed an opaque, green gem and a solid blue gem on the counter.

"I can have a defense boosting charm made from peridot and turquoise ready in about two days. It'll cost about 12000 jewel; 6000 now and 6000 when you pick up the finished product."

"Sounds good to me," Lir replied, and dug the money out of her bag.

She thanked the woman for her help and turned to leave the store.

"Oh by the way," The woman said, "You should check out Fairy Tail, they have a dragon slayer. They call him Salamander."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, he can cause quite the commotion, though."

"I'll have to check it out. Thank you." Lir said, stepping out the front door.

"Of course, have a nice day."

There was just enough money in her pouch for the finished charm and a cheap inn. Maybe checking out Fairy Tail would be a worthwhile venture; most guilds let independent mages take some of their jobs as long as they got a cut of the profit. Not to mention meeting that Salamander guy would be interesting.

She was pulled from her thoughts, "Someone stop that guy! He's a thief!"

Lir lifted her head in time to see a man in a mask sprint down the street, holding a small burlap bag.

 _What kind of moron robs a store in the middle of the day?_

She took off at full tilt, rapidly gaining on him. It was tempting to level a water dragon's roar at him, but the street was still packed with people. The pedestrians jumped out of her way, either to clear a path or avoid getting mowed down.

The collar of his jacket was almost within her grasp, the fabric grazed her fingertips when something crashed into her back sending her flying right into the thief and through the wall of the nearest building. The impact left her dazed, her head was spinning and her vision was slowly clearing of black spots. Then she felt the thief start squirming and locked her arms around his head, although, neither of them was going anywhere since they were buried under a substantial layer of debris and two other people.

"Get offa me, Gray!" A boy shouted.

"I can't move, flame breath!" Another boy shot back.

"Natsu! Gray! What the hell is wrong with you!" A girls voice scolded.

Someone was pulling the rubble off of them, letting in sunlight and fresh air. The two boys got up and continued to bicker with each other until a girl with blonde hair kicked them both, sending them flying across the room.

"I'm so sorry about them." The blonde girl said, "They tend to go a little overboard."

"Ah, it's fine. And I caught the guy." She said, glancing at the man she still had in a headlock.

"Hey, we helped!" The pink haired boy cried indignantly.

"No, you didn't. You just put a hole in the wall. Again." A woman holding a huge barrel of liquor retorted.

"Let go of me!" The thief shouted, finally regaining full consciousness.

Lir tightened her grip around his head, "It's probably in your best interests to shut the hell up."

Thankfully, he did, and remained silent until the rune knights showed up to haul him to jail.

Lir stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes, "Well, that was exciting."

"I'm so sorry again for Natsu and Gray. They can be idiots sometimes."

"It's no big deal, I'm just glad I could help. I'm sorry that I put a hole in your building… uh…"

"Oh, I'm Lucy." The girl said.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lir." She replied, shaking her hand.

"That was crazy! You almost caught that guy!" a short girl with blue hair exclaimed.

"She would have if Natsu and Gray hadn't gotten in the way." The woman with the giant barrel retorted.

"The rune knights got him in the end, so that's all that matters." Lir waved them off.

"I'm Levy McGarden." The blue haired girl said, extending her hand.

Lir met her small hand with a firm shake.

"I'm Cana." The other woman said before taking a huge swig of her drink.

"Nice to meet you. So I guess this means I crashed into Fairy Tail, right?"

"You got it!" Lucy said, giving her a thumbs up and showing off her pink guild mark on the back of her hand.

"So, are you a mage?" Levy asked.

"Yeah, I'm independent, though. I'm not in a guild." She replied.

"That must be exciting, what's it like?"

"It's nice, it lets me travel as much as I want."

"What kind of magic do you use?" Cana asked.

"I'm a Water Dragon Slayer."

"What?! Did you just say dragon slayer?" Natsu demanded, appearing out of nowhere and grabbing her shirt collar.

"Yeah, jeez, what's the big deal?" She tried pushing him away.

"I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer! We should fight!"

"So you must be Salamander." She said, ignoring his challenge.

"You bet!"

She had to ask him if he had a dragon, no matter how nervous the potential answer made her. It would drive her mad if she left Magnolia forever unsure if Natsu had the same upbringing she did.

"How did you learn your magic? Did… Did a dragon teach it to you?"

"Yeah! Igneel taught me. What about you?"

"I learned from Oceanus." She felt a pang of grief in her stomach when she said his name aloud.

"Is he still around? When was the last time you saw him?"

"Seven years ago on July seventh. He just… vanished. Never said a damn word to me."

"For real? That's when Igneel left too!"

Lir furrowed her eyebrows, "That's bizarre."

Her stomach sunk in disappointment, if Natsu had known anything it would have been the first lead she'd got since Oceanus left. Based on the crestfallen look on his face, he was thinking the same thing.

"So, Lir, have you been on any big jobs lately?" Levy asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I just recovered that Sapphire Staff thing for the mayor of Oak Town."

"Wait, so that means y _ou_ _'_ _re_ the Leviathan?" Cana exclaimed.

"The one and only," Lir replied, giving a curt bow.

"How are you still and independent mage? I thought a big guild would've snapped you up by now." Cana said

"Oh, believe me, they've tried."

"You should join Fairy Tail!" Natsu exclaimed. "Then we could fight all the time!"

Lir hummed, trying to dodge the suggestion.

"You should really think about it," Lucy said. "I've only been here for a month and it's been amazing."

Lir was silent for a moment, "I don't know. I have an 'incurable fear of being tied town.'" She said, putting air quotes around her words.

Cana scoffed, "Joining a guild isn't getting 'tied down.' Hell, we've got our fair share of vagabonds that are almost never here."

Lir nodded but still didn't give an answer.

"Well, are you going to be here for a while? Maybe we can change your mind." Lucy said.

"You can try. I will be here for a few days, though."

"Hey, maybe if you're not busy you could help me and my team out with a job." Levy said. "Some monster has been lighting fires by the farms on the edge of town and we're going to hunt it down."

"Sure. I mean, if you guild master doesn't have a problem with it."

"Makarov won't mind."

"Then I'd love to."  
"Great! we're meeting here at eight tomorrow morning and heading straight to the farms." Levy said.

"Sounds good to me," Lir replied.

The guild hall started to empty as the sun went down. Mirajane was cleaning up the remaining mess from the brawls, along with the help of her giant brother, Elfman. A bunch of the girls left at the same time; apparently, they all lived in the same apartment building that was owned by the guild. Lucy said there was a decent hotel near her house and offered to show Lir the way.

"I know it's only been a day, but do you think you are going to join?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know yet. It's been a long time since I even considered joining a guild." She replied.

"You really should, I don't think you'd feel tied down at all."

"Ah, old habits die hard, I guess."

She turned back to face the guild, the massive building looked imposing with the sun setting behind it. She had committed to being a solo mage several years ago and swore she would never join a guild, but Fairy Tail seemed different. The members were relaxed and appeared to be friends with each other, not just business associates. Still, the notion of committing to getting the guild mark made her feel uneasy. She shook her head, she hadn't devoted herself to anything yet. For all she knew, Fairy Tail could be just a blip on the radar of her life's journey.

* * *

AN: So apparently I like to torment myself since I am going to try and write a well-rounded dragon slayer OC. I have developed a bit of a soft spot for Lir and I think she deserves a shot at having her story told.

I'm going to use songs for the titles of each chapter; this one is I Am A River by Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl said "This song is mostly about that, this river that runs underground through the city... I thought it was a beautiful idea that there's something natural and prehistoric that runs underneath something as monolithic and futuristic as NYC. And maybe we're all connected by something like that." It made me think of One Magic and how even though the mages have such different magic styles, they are all united by it.

Thank you to those who took the time to read my piece, feedback is greatly appreciated.


	2. Young Volcanoes

Chapter 2: Young Volcanoes

It occurred to her as she was walking to the guild that she should have asked for a little more background on Levy and her team before agreeing to work with them. Levy seemed nice enough and the job didn't sound that demanding, but for all she knew, the whole team could be color manipulation mages or something equally useless. At least it was likely a fire monster causing the problems, it wouldn't stand a chance against her.

Just to be safe, she bought a few potions and restocked her first aid kit, although it was probable that they weren't going up against something dangerous like a phoenix or a drake. She also bought the biggest muffin she had ever come across in all of Fiore and only got through half of it by the time she reached the guild. The front door was unlocked so she just pushed it open and walked inside. She was a early, only a few people were milling about the guild hall and she didn't recognize any of them except for Mirajane. Rather than stand around by the door like a creep, she took a seat at the bar.

"Can I get you anything?" Mira asked.

"No thank you." Lir replied, "Actually, can you tell me anything about Levy and her team?"

"Of course." Mira said, picking up a used crystal mug. "Levy's team is called Shadow Gear and it's comprised of Jet who uses high speed magic and Droy who uses plant magic. Levy herself uses solid script magic and she's one of the most intelligent mages in the guild. They are wonderful people, I'm sure you'll have fun working with them."

Lir nodded, contemplating the new information. They were an interesting combination of mages to say the least; from what she understood most teams were based around magical compatibility, usually leading to teams like sunlight and plant or earthquake and storm, but there was no obvious connection in Shadow Gear. Even the name wasn't indicative of much. She turned around on her barstool so she could watch the rest of the guild. Lively was the most polite word she could think of to describe it, raving mad was probably more accurate. Within the next fifteen minutes three separate fights broke out, she had to dodge flying debris and mages as the most recent brawl overtook the guild hall.

"Is it always like this?" Lir asked incredulously.

"Yes," Mira replied, "It makes it exciting, don't you think?"

"Sure, let's go with that."

* * *

Lir sat at the bar, swinging her legs, watching the clock tick closer to eight. In between the fights several guild members introduced themselves to her; Bisca and Alzack the gun mages, Max the sandstorm mage, Warren the telepath, and Vijeeter the dance mage. They were all plenty nice and perhaps a little too friendly with a random stranger, but they only made her more confused and intrigued by Fairy Tail. Just like Shadow Gear, the guild itself just appeared to be a bunch of mages without any clear connections. Blue Pegasus liked to recruit the modelesque, Mermaid Heel was all women, and Lamia Scale seemed to collect those with powerful and rare magics. Fairy Tail didn't seem to have a 'thing' but whatever they were doing must have been working, considering the vast assortment of high paying jobs on their board.

The clock reached seven fifty three when Levy and her team entered the guild. Before she hopped off her bar stool she sized up the two men with her; they looked to be around her age, built of lean muscle, and taller than Levy but not taller than herself. Of course, she knew better than to judge a mage based on looks alone, that was the fastest way to get your ass kicked.

"Hey Levy." She called out.

"Lir!" Levy exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you!"

She introduced the redhead with the questionable fashion sense as Jet and the square-jawed, brunet as Droy.

"Nice to meet you guys."

"Nice to meet you too. So Levy tells us you're a Water Dragon Slayer." Jet said.

"Yep, hopefully I'll be of _some_ use." She said, sarcastically. "What are the details of the request?"

"The client, Selah Green, thinks that some kind of monster has been lighting her barn and fields on fire, but she's never gotten a good look at it." Levy said, scanning the job request form.

"So it's a search and destroy mission."

"Piece of cake!" Jet exclaimed.

"So do you guys want to head out?" Levy asked.

"Yeah, let's get going." Droy said.

Lir let Shadow Gear lead the way to the farms, the first hour or so of the trek passing in uncomfortable silence. People usually made small talk with people they just met, but Lir was cripplingly incapable of doing so. A sentence would well up in her mind and reach the tip of her tongue only for her to smother it for a reason that she couldn't comprehend. It was probably the years spent as a hermit drifting from town to town, with few to no long lasting relationships.

 _Damn you Oceanus and your stupid vagabond tendencies._

Levy and Jet managed to force some conversation about the weather before prodding her with questions about past jobs. After that the discussion began to flow more easily and Lir felt less tense. They traded stories about their childhoods, or as much as they were willing to divulge; she glossed over her fair share of details and got the sense Shadow Gear did too. Levy kept begging for more information about dragon script which forced Lir to admit, with quite a bit of shame, that she hadn't practiced in a long time.

The sun was just beginning its descent by the time they reached the farms and found Selah Greens property. Corn fields lined either side of the main path to the house, from which they could already see the fire damage. The house itself was fairly large, made of dark wood and appeared to have been bypassed by the arsons.

"Why don't you guys start looking around, and I'll talk to Selah." Levy said.

Levy peeled off, leaving the other three to do reconnaissance.

"Well….ah… I'll go check over near the woods." Lir said, gesturing to the north.

"Ok, we'll check over there." Jet replied.

However, there was not a single rouge ember, which made Lir concerned as it suggested that the creatures knew of their arrival and were smart enough to remain hidden, so it likely wasn't lampads or flame pixies. They made camp in one of the empty barns, choosing the one with the least fire damage and the best view of the field. Jet offered to take first watch, but it was still too early to go to sleep.

Lir pulled out her leather bound field journal and metal tin of supplies and started sketching a burned section of the barn. Her art - if she could call it that - wasn't good in an overall sense, but she was able to transfer what she saw on to the page so it served her purposes.

"What are you working on, Lir?" Levy asked.

"Oh, I just keep a journal of things I see." She replied, proffering the book.

Levy took it and flipped through the pages, "Wow, you've been all over."

Then she held up the sketchbook to a page with a scribble of a giant half man, half bat creature, "You've _seen_ a Ahool!?"

Lir shuddered, "Yeah, nasty fuckers. You have no idea how freaked out I was trying to get that picture."

"That means you've been to Pergrande!"

"I've been to most kingdoms in Ishgar, there are a lot less mages outside of Fiore so it's easier to get jobs." She explained.

"Wow, we've never left Fiore." Droy said.

"Eh, it's not for everyone. Some of those kingdoms are pretty hard to adapt to."

Silence filled the barn, Lir flipped through her book, Levy fiddled with her light pen, and Jet and Droy kicked pebbles at each other.

* * *

They spent most of the second day searching for hints about the arsons but with little luck and fewer results. Lir followed the scent of burning crops until she reached the end of the trail, the sulphuric smell and the path of blackened plants just stopped. The monsters seemed to be unrealistically smart… unless they were dealing with mages which would explain why the destruction appeared so wanton but left them with no clues. After poking around the area for another hour, she walked back towards the barn to see if Levy, Jet, or Droy had any luck. Based on their less than triumphant expressions she guessed not.

"Maybe we just got unlucky last night." Levy said, "We should wait and see if they show up tonight before we try anything drastic."

They decided to wait in the barn until nightfall so they wouldn't scare off the monsters. Lir was stationed at a westward facing window, scanning the field for signs of fire. It wasn't until an hour after sunset that the smell of burning plants wafted into the barn. Lir shot up and ran to Droy's window.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I smell smoke coming from over there." She pointed to a shallow hill less than a mile from the barn.

Levy and Jet ran to them and peered out to where Lir was pointing.

"You can smell it?" Jet asked.

"Yeah, dragon slayer magic does that."

"Well, let's get out there." Levy said, making her way to the door.

They ran out to the hill and crept up slope, keeping low to maintain the element of surprise. Nine creatures were roaming around the crop fields, leaving burnt trails in their wake. They could be described as humanoid in the loosest sense; they weren't much more than floating torsos with detached heads and fists made of rock, lava, and fire. That said, they were still taller and generally bigger than any of them. Close range attacks were out of the question unless one _wanted_ third degree burns on their entire body.

"Those look like cherufes." Lir said.

"What are they doing here?" Levy exclaimed, "They live in volcanoes!"

"Who cares? Let's just take them out!" Jet said.

"Do you have a plan, Levy?" Droy asked.

"Yes, we'll spread out and push them away from the farm. Try to get them to the river if you can."

They all nodded in agreement and advanced on the monsters. Lir padded to the one on the far right of the field, careful not to kick any stray sticks or rocks. As she came within firing range she could feel the moisture being sucked out of the air and the heat radiating off the cherufe. She knelt down, concealing herself behind a row of wilted corn stalks, waiting for the cherufe to completely turn its back to her.

 _Three_ _…_ _two_ _…_ _one, go!_

She launched forward at the monster, "Water dragon's jet stream!"

A blast of water shot out of her palm and hit the cherufe square in the back. It stumbled forward, made a befuddled screech, then whipped around to face her bringing a wave of fire with it. She ducked and rolled out of the way.

"Water dragon's steam blast!"

She brought forth a high pressure cloud of steam that stunned the cherufe and gave her some cover. Another rounded on her and fired a blast of lava right at her head. She dipped under it and retaliated with a torrent of water launched from a kick. Steam was filling the air, hiding her presence, but the glow from the cherufes was amplified by the mist. She crept around the howling monsters, trying to line them up so she could drive them to the river.

She sucked in a deep breath, letting her chest expand fully and fill with magic energy, "Water dragon's roar!"

The water knocked one cherufe into the other and to the edge of the riverbank. After getting a running start, she drop kicked the closest one which knocked it into the other and pushed both of them into the river. Her momentum carried her into the water with them. Blazing hot steam erupted on contact and the water temperature increased dramatically. From below the surface she saw the now lifeless, stone bodies of the cherufes sinking to the bottom. Only seven to go.

She propelled herself to the surface and created a wave that carried her to shore. The next closest monster was much larger than the last two. It must have seen her magic because it was hanging back, eyeing her. An orange flash appeared in the corner of her eye and she slung a Water Dragons Breaker at it. The big cherufe shot a fireball at her, which she dodged, only to get smashed with an attack from a third cherufe. They had her surrounded. She stood, brushing the dirt and ash off her skin.

"Water Dragons Seawall!"

She brought up a wall of water around herself that absorbed several fireballs but she was forced to drop it and dodge when they brought out the lava. The big one shot fire from its mouth like a flame thrower which she ducked around and then was slammed to the ground by another, sending a rush of pain through the side that took the impact.

"Motherfucker." She spat, climbing to her feet.

She bounced out of the way and let her magical power build up. The cherufes adjusted themselves for a combined attack.

"Water Dragons Waterspout!"

She thrust her arms over her head, bringing three waterspouts up from beneath the cherufes. The two small ones collapsed after a matter of seconds. The big one staggered back, but its orange glow was dulling.

"Water Dragons Roar!"

She shot a blast of water at the monster, knocking it to the ground and extinguishing its light. After taking a moment to regain her breath, she pushed the bodies of the cherufes into the lake so Selah wouldn't have to get rid of them later. She walked back across the field, searching for Shadow Gear. The burning smell of sulphur was weak, suggesting that the three had defeated the remaining four monsters. Upon clearing the hill, she found the Fairy Tail mages and was treated to the faint scent of burnt skin and rubbing alcohol.

 _Oh shit._

She took off at a sprint towards them and jet noticed her approaching.

"Have you seen the other five?" He called out.

"Yeah, I got 'em. Are you guys alright?"

Droy was sitting on the ground, getting his left arm bandaged up by Levy. They were all covered in burns and scrapes, worse than the ones she had been dealt. Levy's entire right shin was wrapped in gauze with burned skin peaking out near her knee. Jet had a particularly nasty laceration across his torso.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't even think…"

There was no other way to put it, she hadn't been thinking; not once during the fight had she stopped to wonder how Shadow Gear was doing.

"It's alright. We got the job done and no one's hurt too badly." Levy said.

She hummed and a guilty pit settled in her stomach.

She remained quiet on the walk back to Selahs house, even as Shadow Gear regaled their triumph over the cherufes to their teammates.

Levy knocked on the front door of the house, and Selah was quick to answer.

"I take it you found something." She said.

"We did, it was cherufes and we got rid of them."

"Well I'll be…" Selah said.

"There were nine of them roaming around. We're not sure how they got here or where they were hiding during the day, but they're at the bottom of the river now." Levy said.

"And the damage to the crops isn't too bad." Droy added. "Everything should grow back in a few months."

Selah scanned the fields for another minuted before turning to face them, "Thank you so much. You all more than earned your reward." She handed Levy a pouch filled with Jewels.

"It was a pleasure working with you. I hope the cherufes don't come back." Levy said.

"I hope so too. I'll be seeing you lot around."

"Bye!" Levy called out as the others started down the path.

The walk back to the guild was quiet and slow, but Lir didn't dare to say anything about it, she lingered to the side of the road keeping her eyes on the scenery and mind off her deplorable teamwork skills. She'd leave in the morning and not look back.

* * *

By the time they reached Fairy Tail, the guild was still open and bustling with people. They trudged inside and were almost immediately steam rolled by a brawl; Jet and Droy tried to jump in but were knocked out by a rampaging Elfman.

"Did you ever get to meet our guild master, Lir?" Levy asked, dodging a plate.

"No, I haven't." Lir said, grabbing a flying crystal mug out of the air and setting it on a table.

"Hang on a second, I want to introduce you to him."

Levy ran off, leaving Lir to stand awkwardly off to the side as to not get sucked into a brawl. A moment later, she returned with a short, elderly man wearing an orange getup and a jester hat.

"Makarov, this is Lir. Lir, this is our guild master," Levy said.

"It't nice to meet you, my dear," He said.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir." She replied.

"Levy tells me you were quite the asset on their job."

"Ah, it was nothing."

Makarov looked to Levy for her appraisal

"She was great! She took down five cherufes on her own," she said.

"Is that so?" Makarov said, turning back to her.  
Lir shrugged, "I'm water, they're fire, it wasn't hard."

"Well, I hope to see you around more often, Lir."

She hummed in response and thankfully he didn't press any further. Someone called to Levy from across the guild hall and the solid script mage quickly bid her farewell before zipping across the room.

Lir folded her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair. Her own injuries were of no consequence, she healed fast anyway, but seeing the bandaged burns on Shadow Gear reminded her why she was so ill suited to be in a guild. Someone waved a drink in front of her face, and she craned her head back to see Cana standing behind her with a large barrel of liquor.

"What's with the long face?" She asked.

"Nothing, I'm just a little tired."

"Well try this, maybe it'll improve your mood."

Lir took the glass and they drank in silence for a few minutes.

"So you going to be back tomorrow?" Cana said.

"I dunno… I think I might bounce," She replied.

"Oh come on, this place isn't _that_ bad."

"No, no, I don't mean like that. I just… don't think I'm cut out for a guild."

"You know it's not your fault. Mages get hurt on jobs all the time," Cana said.

"Trust me, I know. I'm not ready to be tied down though."

Lir was sure that Cana didn't believe her, but the card mage didn't press her further.

"Well if you're really set on leaving, I hope we see you around soon."

"Yeah, me too."

She lifted her mug to Cana's before they both took a large swig.

Eventually, Cana got caught up in an argument with Wakaba who was just as drunk as her, then Lir waited for the next guild wide brawl to use as cover and slipped out of the building. She wrung her hands and shook her head; she wanted to leave… no she _had_ to. She wasn't ready to deal with the potential consequences of long lasting friendships again.

She sighed then headed to Black Agate, hoping that her charm would be done. After slipping inside the nearly empty shop, she wandered up and down the aisles searching for the woman who ran the store. She found her restocking a shelf and cleared her throat to get her attention.

"Hello dear! You hear for your charm?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Follow me, I'll grab it for you."

They walked up to the front counter and the woman disappeared into the back room. A moment later she was back with a small charm. Lir produced the remaining 6000 jewel from her bag and traded her for it.

"One more thing," The woman said. "That thief you caught the other day has been tormenting us for quite a while and I wanted to thank you for it." The woman said, handing her a small, tumbled gem that nearly matched the color of her hair. "It's aventurine, it brings prosperity and promotes friendship."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"Of course! Come back if you need more charms."

She left the store, fiddling with the stone. It seemed too coincidental for the woman to give her a _friendship_ stone unless she knew she was going to leave. She left the store, turning the stone over in her hands, and began walking back towards the hotel, passing the guild hall. Warm, yellow light and the sounds of a party seeped out of Fairy Tail, along with several loud crashes followed by shouting.

 _What the hell?_

It couldn't have been the aventurine making her want to stay, there was no way a piece of rock could influence her emotions. Boosting her defensive magic was one thing, but making her reconsider a fundamental part of her nature was too weird. She'd have to get rid of it.

* * *

AN: So I'm almost done with all of this establishing stuff; Lir is going to get involved in the main plot soon.

The song I picked for this one is Young Volcanoes by Fall Out Boy mostly because of this interpretation I read on songmeanings, "we can be freed from whatever is holding us back or hurting us, but most of the time something will have to be destroyed first." Kinda how Lir is going to have to change part of her personality/overcome certain flaws if she wants to maintain friendships.


	3. Get Up Get Down

Chapter 3: Get Up Get Down

Lir rolled out of bed the next morning with the full intention of catching the first train leaving Magnolia regardless of where it was heading. She slid into her skintight, maroon, pants and blue crop top before dashing out the door. The rising sun cast a warm light into the hallway; her thin soled shoes allowed her to move without disrupting the stillness.

The lobby was almost empty, just a young woman talking to the tired looking receptionist.

"I couldn't believe it either. The whole thing was trashed," She said.

"Are you serious? Who would do that?"

"Everyone is saying its a dark guild."

Lir's attention was piqued, "I'm sorry, what's going on?"

"You haven't heard? Fairy Tail's guild hall was attacked. It's in pretty bad shape."

"What!" Lir exclaimed.

She slammed the money for the room on the counter and bolted out the front door.

 _Fairy Tail attacked by a dark guild?!_ _  
_She sprinted as fast as she could considering she had been asleep twenty minutes ago, and her stiff muscles protested for it. The streets were still mostly empty, so she was able to reach the guild quickly. The girl in the hotel was right, the hall was trashed; giant metal rods pierced every available spot, like a twisted jenga game.

"What the hell?"

It looked as though the building would topple at a slight breeze. She wracked her brain for any mage that could create such precise destruction, but she barely new any legal mages let alone dark ones.

"Lir?"

"Levy! What's going on? Are you guys alright?" Lir grabbed her by the shoulders. examining her but finding no more bandages than there had been the night before.

"Yeah, no one got hurt. Makarov thinks it's Phantom Lord trying to provoke us."

"You're kidding."

"Unfortunately not," Levy let out a troubled sigh and cast a glance at the guild hall. "Come on, a bunch of us are in the basement."

Lir followed her around the side of the building to a set of storm doors and trudged down the stairs. A muted air hung over the room, which only made the whole scene look more depressing with everyone sitting on mismatched chairs and crates; a stark contrast to the expensive matching set furniture upstairs.

"So no one was hurt?" Lir asked.

"Yeah, they attacked some time after the guild closed and everyone went home."

"Any idea who specifically did it?"

"Well, if it was Phantom Lord, which seems to be the most likely candidate, then it was Black Steel."

"Black Steel?"

"He's Phantom Lord's most powerful mage. I'm not sure about the specifics of his magic but it's metal based, obviously."

Lir nodded, she'd have to keep a lookout for the guy and give him a solid ass kicking.

"Why the heck are you all just sitting around down here?!" Natsu shouted.

She turned to find Natsu, Lucy, Erza, and Gray talking to a very drunk Makarov, who had an out of place grin on his face.

"Master, do you understand the gravity of the situation?" Erza asked.

"The guild hall's completely destroyed!" Natsu added.

"Now there's no need to get yourselves all worked up," Makarov slurred. "It's not the end of the world or anything."

 _Is he serious?_

"Just goes to show you how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord guild really are. Struck when no one was here - is that anything worth bragging about?"

"He is surprisingly laid back about this." Lir muttered to Levy.

"That's Makarov for y-"

Levy was cut off by a loud crash caused by Natsu putting his fist through a wooden crate.

"Ain't gonna happen, Gramps! We can't just let 'em trash out place and get away with it!" He declared, his rising anger gave off a distinct burning smell.

"I'm not talking about this any longer. We'll handle job requests down here until upstairs is repaired." Makarov said in a tone of finality.

"We shouldn't be worrying about jobs right-!"

"NATSU that's enough out of you!"

Makarov, for whatever drunken reason smacked Lucy on the butt.

"And you spanked me because…?" she asked, more exasperated than embarrassed.

"Hands to yourself, Master." Mirajane scolded.

He chuckled nervously before hoping off his table.

"Where're you goin' old man!" Natsu demanded.

"Eh, keep your dress on. I gotta take a leak."

"I don't understand why he's being like this." Natsu said, directing his glower at the floor.

"Maybe it's not my place to speak, but aren't guild wars illegal?" Lir asked.

"Yes, the council expressly forbids them." Mira said.

"If the master's decision is to not retaliate, then we must respect it." Erza said.

Everyone looked frustrated and upset, but Natsu was downright pissed, she could practically see the fire being fanned deep behind his eyes. It was hard to tell if her opinion was colored by the fact she wasn't in Fairy Tail, but she was inclined to agree with Makarov, if they didn't react they would give the impression nothing Phantom Lord did actually bothered them.

Suddenly Natsu and Gray were in a brawl that nearly mowed Levy down, if not for Lir grabbing elbow and yanking her out of the way. The two, however, did manage to suck in Elfman and Max.

"What are you guys planning to do about this?" Lir asked. "Are you just going to let the council handle it?"

"For now, yes," Mira said. "If we do anything other than take precautions, we can be accused of entering a guild war and risk being suspended."

"I mean, maybe they'll piss off if you ignore it. Not to mention it would be 'stooping to their level' or some shit," Lir said.

"I'm not so sure Phantom Lord will just leave us alone. They wouldn't attack unless they had a reason," Erza said.

"We still need to take every precaution possible," Mira said. "We can't take them lightly."

The women were quiet for a moment, contemplating their options. Lir glanced from Levy to Lucy who seemed to be expecting a solution from them.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Erza announced, attracting the whole room's attention. "It is likely that Phantom will try to attack us again, so we need to be ready. Several people need to watch the guild overnight. Everyone else is to remain in groups of at least three until the situation is dealt with."

"Let me deal with 'em! I'll fry them all to crisps!" Natsu shouted, flames engulfing his fists.

"Natsu you will do no such thing unless you want another punishment on top of the one for taking that S-Class quest!" Erza ordered.

"Yes ma'am." Natsu instantly deflated.

"We will deal with all jobs from down here and continue on as normal." Erza finished.

The guild members looked a little less downtrodden now that there was a plan, but the general mood was still under a wet blanket.

"Do you want my help?" Lir asked. "There's gotta be something I can do."

"You don't have to. I wouldn't want you to gut unnecessarily involved. Dealings with Phantom Lord tend to be messy." Mira said.

"I think I can handle some low-life mages," She replied, popping her knuckled.

"If you want, you can see if anyone needs someone to buddy up with overnight." Erza said.

"Ah, sure."

She had been thinking guarding the guild hall or acting as a scout, especially since she barely knew anyone. Butterflies of anxiety filled her stomach as she scanned the room. It was one thing to go on a mission and fail to be a good team player, but under the threat of attack from another guild seemed out of her league.

"There are a few extra rooms in Fairy Hills, you could stay with us." Levy said.

Lir swallowed the lump in her throat, "Sure."

* * *

Levy said she was going to spend the night with the rest of Shadow Gear, and Erza was going to crash a Lucy's house, leaving Lir to walk back in an oppressively awkward silence with Bisca and Laki.

"So…Lir, what's the name of the dragon that raised you?" Bisca asked.

The tone of her voice was one Lir recognized well; not quite believing her but also being too polite to call her out. To be fair, it did sound pretty ridiculous.

"His name is Oceanus."

"You know, I always kinda thought Natsu was making it up, but you don't seem like the type to lie about that," Bisca replied.

"Yeah, he was pretty much my father. If Igneel was anything like Oceanus I'm sure Natsu felt the same way about him."

"I am feeling regretful emotions now," Laki said.

"Don't worry about it, the whole idea of dragons raising little kids is pretty crazy."

"Just a little," Bisca chuckled.

The silence returned as the sun dipped behind the horizon. Lir let her senses reach out around them, trying to pick up any threat. The smells of the city where overwhelming; there were too many and too saturated, but nothing jumped out and grabbed her like bad magic.

They made it to Fairy Hills without ant incident and Bisca and Laki led her inside the colonial revival style building. The floors were glossy hardwood and matched the tan walls, some kind of delicate flower scent permeated the whole building.

"You can stay in this room, but I think we are going to sleep downstairs in the living room, you know safety in numbers and all that." Bisca said.

"Alright, sounds good," Lir said, "I'm going to take a shower first."

"Ok, we're going to set up."

Lir nodded before going into her room. It was basic but nice, a twin bed, a dresser, matching dark green comforter and curtains. She dropped her backpack on the bed and went straight to the bathroom. She cranked the shower as hot as it would go and tried to focus on the burning water rather than the fact that she was going to spend and unspecified amount of time in close proximity with the Fairy Tail members. It was one thing to go on a mission with a specific goal, but the idea of this indefinite waiting was making her stomach churn.

She rinsed out her hair - the water weighed it down making it reach the middle of her spine - and wrung it more times than could be considered casual or necessary. After quickly towel drying, she left the bathroom and slid into a pair of shorts and a sweater. By the time she got downstairs Bisca, Laki, and Cana were all camped out in the middle of the room having a discussion on the likelihood of Gray and Natsu destroying Lucy's house.

"If anything Phantom Lord's gonna find them from all the racket they'll cause," Cana said.

"So the two of them don't get along?" Lir asked.

"It's not that, they just really, really like to fight each other," Bisca said.

"I mean, it takes Erza to get them to stop, so I'd say they're very competitive," Cana added.

Lir nodded and sat down on the open sleeping bag, the others continued to discuss the likelihood of an attack during the night. Cana thought Phantom wouldn't try anything again so soon, Bisca was not convinced as - apparently - Phantom was not a patient guild. Laki would occasionally chime in with one of her oddly phrased sentences.

The building was full of a muffled silence as though it were filled with cotton balls. Cana, Laki, and Bisca's breathing had evened out and their heartbeats slowed indicating they were asleep. Lir found that people often gave off a muted version of their natural scent while they were sleeping. She rolled on to her side so she was facing the large windows; no movement caught her eye but she still couldn't shake her unsettled feeling. As the moon dipped towards the horizon it filled the room with pale light. There was no way she was going to fall asleep now. She rolled off her sleeping bag and padded to the front door, careful to open it slowly and lock it behind her. Trying to keep her walking speed something casual was a struggle and she reached the inner part of Magnolia quickly.

The further she walked the better she felt. As sad as it was, she was certain that just sleeping in the same room as unfamiliar people was stressing her out. Or maybe it was the notion of commitment, which was still equally pathetic. She shook her head and focused on trying to find a sign of Phantom Lord, but the streets of Magnolia were empty and quiet, if not a little creepy for the mild fog. She lifted her nose to the wind and a metallic scent smacked her in the face. Blood.

 _Shit._

She took off at a full sprint in the direction of the smell, tearing through an alleyway and throwing herself over a fence. The houses gave way to the sprawling, green park but the scent stood out like rusty nail amongst the earthy ones. She vaulted over a row of hedges and had to block out the sun with her hand as it peaked over the horizon. Whatever it was had to be bad. Another metal scent was mixing with the blood; was it Black Steel?

It had to have been, because there was no other explanation for what she found. Levy, Jet, and Droy were unconscious, beaten, bloodied, and crucified to a large oak tree. Lir's breath caught in her throat and her hands went clammy. For a moment she couldn't make herself move, what kind of monster did this? Jet twitched and made a faint groan. She snapped out of her stupor and scaled the tree. She tried to yank the metal cuffs off but they wouldn't budge.

"Levy! Droy! Jet! Wake up!"

* * *

AN: Here comes the actual plot! I absolutely did not finish this during my geology lecture.

This chapter's song is Get Up Get Down by Phillip Phillips. Even though it's more of a romantic song, there is one line that goes "find out what's there, what you can be" and to me, it's about daring to get closer to someone/something to see where it can take you.


	4. Round and Round

Chapter 4: Round and Round

A woman in a blue scrubs ordered the nurses around, hooking up IVs and wrapping bandages

"Were they unconscious when you found them?" She asked.

Lir nodded, "I think they were in shock."

She pulled her eyebrows together, frowned, and turned back to Shadow Gear.

"Thank you, you can go now."

Lir nodded again and slipped out the door. Her stomach churned with a nervous uneasiness that first manifested when she discovered the three mages in the park. The sound of footsteps running up the stairs met her ears just before Lucy came running around the corner. The salty scent of tears reached her before Lucy did.

"Are they okay?" she asked, her voice thick and strained.

"For the most part."

"This is terrible," Lucy said, before bolting past Lir into Shadow Gear's room.

Lir walked out of the hospital as fast as possible, trying to get to fresh air that wasn't soaked in antiseptic fumes. She burst out on to the street and was immediately swept up in the flow of the bustling crowd.

She shut her brain off until she reached the guild hall and the sound of angry shouting snapped her out of her stupor. Her heartbeat began to hammer against her ribs as she approached the door and anxiety crept up her spine. But her restlessness meant virtually nothing in the sea of boiling rage that the main guild hall had become. Cries for a fight filled the room and magical energy crackled in the air.

"Let's just storm over there and beat them up!"

"We should ambush them when they come back!"

Lir sat down at an empty table and, thankfully, no one tried to drag her into the pandemonium. However, only a few minutes later the entire guild fell silent and the apoplectic jostling ceased. She looked up to see Makarov standing on the the big stage at the front of the guild. The entire room filled with a tense silence.

"We will not stand for the brutalization of our members! We are taking this fight to Phantom Lord!" he declared.

The guild erupted into angry cheering, thrusting their fists in the air.  
It was too much. Her head reeled with the pressure and her heart pounded against her chest like a wild animal trying to escape. Half of the members poured out the front door in an livid rush. Lir remained sitting.  
"Are you coming?" Gray asked.

Her mouth went dry, forcing her to swallow.

"I don't know. I think maybe I shouldn't be involved in all this."

* * *

Guilt settled in her gut like a rock. She arguably felt worse now than she had back in the bloodthirsty guild hall. A sense of shame mixed with self - disappointment slowed her walk to a meander. But she pushed any thoughts other than "keep moving" down, smothering them under memories she didn't wish to repeat in the future.

But the pulling in her chest was impossible to ignore. Fairy Tail was different. They declared war on a dark guild all for the sake of a girl who had been with them for only a few months.

She cast a look up the road, before turning back towards the south.

"I'm going fucking crazy," she muttered.

She leapt into the river, only letting herself sink up to her shins. With one swing of her arms, a current was propelling her in the direction of Magnolia. The wind whipped her hair back as she picked up speed and the spray soaked her legs. She had been walking for half the day so she had a long way to go.

* * *

People were fleeing the city as she approached, meaning something was going horribly wrong. Even as she hurdled past them on the river she picked up hints of panicked conversations.

"It's a guild war!"

"Phantom Lord is attacking Fairy Tail's guild hall!"

"There's a giant robot in the bay!

 _A giant robot?_

She picked up speed, coming dangerously close to breaking the wave she was riding. The sounds of explosions and fighting filled the air. She rounded the final turn that lead into the bay and found a giant, battle-mech that resembled a building standing shin deep in the water.

"Holy fuck," she muttered.

Some of the Fairy Tail mages battled strange, shadowy figures that darted around through the air, but were ultimately struggling to prevent them from destroying the guild hall. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, trying to pick up any scents that would give her a clue as to where her help was needed most. A thousand different odors melted together, creating the pungent smell of battle. However, one was increasingly familiar if not slightly different. She lifted her head towards the battle-mech, straining all her senses. The pounding rumbles of a fight reached her, along with the scent of a dragon slayer mixed with melting metal.

Like a lightbulb flicking on in her head, she realized Black Steel was a dragon slayer. She propelled herself in the battle-mechs direction, then launched herself up with a geyser and grabbed on to the outside of its chest. Two large pipes stuck out of its torso to her left, easily big enough for her to slide through. She scaled across the brick wall and then swung herself inside. She dropped, rather than slid as the pipe was steeper than she thought.

The smells of burning coal and some sort of lacrima core mixed with various types of magic filled the air. She sucked in a deep breath and followed the scent of dragon. Half of the mech was destroyed, collapsed walls and pipes spraying water littered the whole structure. Then she reached a dead end, a brick wall. But she heard the fight on the other side. It didn't sound like it was going well for Natsu, so rather than go around she used a focused Water Dragon's Waterspout to cut a circle in the bricks. She planted a foot on the ring, kicked it in, and jumped through.

Natsu slammed into the wall right next to her before crumbling to the ground.

"Hey Lir, glad you came back," he said without an ounce of bitterness.

She helped him to stand and let him lean on her shoulder.

"What, don't think you can beat me Salamander?"

A man probably a little older than herself with wild, long, black hair and a ton of facial piercings stood across the room from them, eating a piece of a metal crossbeam. His whole body was coated in metal scales and his right arm melded into a broadsword.

"I really need to get some fire," Natsu said. "I'm running low on magic energy, and he's been eating metal this whole time."

Lir glanced around the room and found a surprising lack of flames for all the damage. Lucy and Happy were standing precariously close to the fight, and the celestial spirit mage looked pretty banged up.

"Get Lucy out of here and find some fire. I'll hold him off," she said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Natsu staggered towards Lucy and Lir stepped forward to get Black Steel's attention.

"Who the hell'er you?" he demanded.

"The Leviathan."

"Well, _Leviathan,_ you stand even less of a chance than Salamander," he taunted, waving his sword.

She assumed a fighting stance and watched him carefully. He wasted no time in going on the attack, trying to hit her with his sword. She side stepped around his swings. But damn he was fast. An iron rod struck her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. He followed with and Iron Dragon's Roar that she was only barely able to dodge.

"Gettin' tired yet?"

"Not a chance," she replied. "Water Dragon's Blue Streak!"

A blue aura engulfed her body and made her feel thirty pounds lighter, a lucky pick of spells considering Black Steel's next move.

"Iron Dragon's Kunai!"

Several small knives launched right at her, but with her Blue Streak she dodged them with little effort.

"Water Dragon's Breaker!"

She slung a wave at him, knocking him back.

"Water Dragon's Waterspout!"

Several pillars of water shot up around him but he only managed to dodge two before crashing into a third. She took advantage of his temporary shock and sprinted at him, before landing a kick on the side of his head. He staggered away but managed to stay on his feet.

"You're gonna pay for that."

"Not if you can't catch me," she said, dodging another Kunai.

"I don't gotta catch you. Just beat the shit outta you!"

He shot another pillar of iron at her, which she dodged. But he made a sweeping arc with it and caught her in the side. She hit the ground hard and recovered quickly, rolling back into a stand, only to take a Kunai to the shoulder.

"Ah fuck!"

She yanked it out, probably not the best idea as the wound started to pour blood, and hurled it right back at him out of spite. He simply deflected it with his iron coated arm.

"Water Dragon's Roar!" she barely caught him with the geyser.

"Iron Dragon's Club!"

The iron rod hit her left shoulder, too close to the knife wound for comfort, and sent her flying into the back wall.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Still stunned from the impact, she took the full brunt of the attack to her chest.

His ability to pummel her weak defense from a distance was doing her in. If she could get him on the ground, she could probably subdue him for long enough that Natsu would return.

"Water Dragon's Steam Blast!"

The entire room filled to the brim with thick, muggy steam that made it uncomfortable to breath.

"Really? You're resortin' to cheap tricks?" he shouted.

Such a high concentration of water vapor in the air disrupted scent trails, but not for Lir. She followed his metallic scent and then took off at a sprint when a dark shadow emerged through the fog. With every ounce of strength she could force out of her legs, she leapt off the ground and tackled Black Steel from behind. He let out a surprised swear. In the split second he was stunned, she hooked her legs around his waist and locked her arms in a chokehold around his neck. He tried to stand, so she pressed his legs apart with her feet, leaving him almost pinned facedown on the floor. The iron scales covering his back scraped up her exposed stomach and arms, but she maintained the hold. He started writhing as he realized she was about to choke him out. She pulled her arms tighter around his throat.

 _"Pass out! Pass out, you fuck!"_

He tried to hit her in the ribs with his elbows but couldn't reach. Although, that didn't matter because the jostling shredded her torso and arms. He seemed to catch on to the fact and started thrashing as much as he could.

"Damnit!" she exclaimed as her arms gave away to his grinding scales.

He threw her off and she scrambled to her feet.

He chuckled, but it turned into a cough, "You're not bad."

She backed up, holding her arms away from her body because they stung from the cuts and scrapes. An iron rod shot right at her head, and she ducked out of the way.

"But still not good enough to win."

He fired a barrage of iron rods, of which she only managed to avoid half. Her energy was almost gone and it was damn near impossible to fight with the entire front of her body ripped to shreds.

 _Where the hell is Natsu?!_

"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"

In her daze, he closed all the ground between them, so he could land a hard punch on her. She staggered back, but he stayed on her and kicked her square in the stomach so hard that she toppled over backwards and skidded across the floor.

"Tell me somethin'." he said, in a voice that made him seem genuinely curious and not a dark guild asshole.

"What?" She spat.

"You ain't a Fairy Tail mage, and I've never heard a damn thing about you. Why are you helping them?"

Why couldn't he just hit her? Why did he have to ask that? She didn't know herself, never mind explaining it to some stranger who was beating the shit out of her. She focused on slowing her breathing down so whatever bullshit came out of her mouth at least had a semblance of confidence about it. But as she sucked in a breath through her nose the scent of smoke and burning hit her.

"You know, I've been asking myself that all day. I have no idea why I came back, but I'm fucking glad I did."

Black Steel gave her a befuddled expression before the smell finally penetrated the remaining mist and reached him. He whipped around just in time to receive a fire fueled punch in the face from Natsu. Lir rolled out of the way as their fight resumed.

"Lir! Are you alright?" Lucy cried, running towards her.

"Yeah, yeah, I've had worse," she replied, waving it off.

"It looks like he dragged you over broken glass! What happened?"

A thundering crash as Natsu and Black Steel collided into a wall of the battle-mech cut her off. Natsu pitched Black Steel across the room with a Fire Dragon's Wing Attack.

"I thought I could choke him out, but I didn't really account for the iron scales."

Lucy helped her to her feet and they watched the fight unfurl. Natsu seemed to be taking ground with every attack. Black Steel's moves slowed and lost power. Natsu slammed Black Steel into the ground, sending a large chunk of rubble hurling right for them.

"Water Dragon's Seawall!"

Lir threw up a thick wall of water, catching the debris, then flinging it away.

"He's a fan of collateral damage, isn't he?"

"You have no idea," Lucy replied, exasperatedly.

Natsu continued to hammer away, driving the other dragon slayer back.

"I'm going to make you pay for everything you did to Fairy Tail! And everything you did to Lucy!" he shouted.

Despite the fact that she was in the middle of a violent guild war, and just had the shit beaten out of her, a warm, fuzzy feeling filled her chest. Natsu's rage was powered by love for his friends, not pure vengeance or the guild holding him to an obligation. He truly felt that deeply for them. A lump formed in her throat and she clenched her fists.

"You're through Black Steel! Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!"

The heat emanated from the attack blasted Lucy, Lir, and Happy full force, even from all the way across the room. Black Steel took the blow right to the chest and crashed into a wall with a thundering boom. The entire battle-mech shook like it was in an earthquake, nearly knocking Lir and Lucy to the ground.

"We have to get out of here!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I can only carry one of you!" Happy cried. "Lucy's too heavy!"

"Shut it, cat!"

The mech lurched as it began to crumble.

"Happy, take Lucy!" Lir shouted.

Happy grabbed they back of Lucy's shirt and took off out the gaping hole in the front of the mech. Lir gave a running start and leapt out into the air. For a split second, she saw the wreckage that used to be the Fairy Tail guild hall, then landed in the bay. The cool water started healing her wounds almost immediately, ridding her of most of the small cuts, bruises and general aches. With a powerful blast of water, she launched herself through the surface and on to the docks.

"Are you guys alright?" She called out to the crowd of mages standing nearby.

"Lir? You came back!"

"Yeah," she laughed nervously.

A clap of thunder drew their attention back to the battle-mech, where a bright, white light glowed.

"That's Makarov!" Warren shouted.

The amount of magical energy pouring from the mech hit them like a gale force wind.

"Are Makarov and José gonna fight?" Vijeeter asked.

Everyone took several steps back and looked prepared to flee. Lir wracked her brain and managed to recall that both guild masters were Wizard Saints, ten of the strongest mages in Fiore. Then, a giant bubble of light appeared around the battle-mech, throwing water into the air. Lightning lit up the sky, striking down from the swirling clouds above. The ground shook, knocking everyone off their feet. Even from their distance, the power emanated from each strike could be felt as though they were standing right next to the fight. The giant explosions of colored light were near blinding and she had to block them out with her hand in order to keep looking.

Suddenly, a hole opened up in the clouds above Phantom Lord's guild hall and a massive, yellow magic circle descended over it. Though she was certain that it was a formidable attack, the light didn't give off an angry energy. Then, a light as bright as the sun exploded from the battle ground. The shade soldiers began to disintegrate, leaving only the confused Fairy Tail mages.

"This is Fairy Law," Erza said.

"What is that?" Gray asked, not taking his eyes off the spectacle.

"A spell that vanquishes darkness with sacred light. It only affects those that the caster sees as their enemy. Incredible, isn't it? It's one of the most legendary spells in existence," she explained.

Lir continued to stare in awe until the light faded away, taking the clouds with it. A moment of stunned silence fell over the crowd as everyone tried to process what they had just seen, before erupting into cheers.

Then, Makarov appeared on the edge of Phantom's destroyed guild hall and they all quieted down.

"We are victorious! But I had very little to do with it. This victory is yours, my children!"

* * *

So this chapter took a while because I spent an excessive amount of time rewriting backstories and how I want the rest of the story to go. The changes really don't show up this early, but I don't like to write without a plan. (Also, Lir was turning into an exact copy of another OC of mine - even the "raised by a dragon childhood" - so I had to change some stuff.)

I used Round and Round by Imagine Dragons for this title since the song seems to be about finding a purpose in life, which I think is something Lir deals with, especially in this chapter where she really could have left Fairy Tail and never looked back

Thank you so much for the feedback, it means a lot to me.

Also, I tried to describe a rear naked choke (when Lir tackles Gajeel in the fog) and I really hope it makes sense.


	5. Breakout

Fairy Tail parties were loud, terrifying experiences, Lir came to learn. She took a swig of her fifth beer, trying to drink herself to the point of being comfortable in such a rambunctious crowd. Another fight broke out in front of her and she narrowly dodged it. Someone put their hand on her shoulder and she turned to find Mirajane.

"How are you holding up?" she shouted over the music.

Lir flashed a thumbs up before chugging the rest of her beer. Mira laughed and then filled Lir's empty glass with a pitcher of some orange mixed drink then disappeared into the crowd. She took a sip and tasted scotch whiskey, orange liqueur, and lemon… it was a rusty screw. Were they making fun of Black Steel with their drinks?

This guild is nuts.

A brawl broke out, which Lir side stepped only to be jostled towards the big, open floor in front of the stage where a ton of people were dancing. She lifted her drink over her head and pushed her way back towards the tables. It was just so loud.

"Lir!" Natsu shouted, pushing his way through the crowd to her.

"Hey!" she called back.

"Did you talk to Gajeel before Phantom split?"

"Who?" she shouted.

"Black Steel."

"What? No. He just beat me up."

Is he drunk?

"He told me his dragon, Metalicana, disappeared on July 7th, x777 too! How crazy is that!"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah! What do you think it means?"

"I have no idea."

Two dragons disappearing on the same day was a coincidence, three actually meant something was up. She rubbed her eyes, her life was already getting too crazy to be thinking about the dragons at the moment, so she downed half her drink.

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Natsu shouted before dragging her back towards the dance floor.

"Wait, Natsu!"

* * *

For all the drinking she'd done the previous night, she wasn't that hungover. But that had always been the case and she suspected that her Water Dragon Magic had something to do with it. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, finding that she had passed out in a booth. Max still slept on the other seat and several other guild members were passed out around the hall. The furniture lie strewed about and the walls were littered with holes. Mirajane moved about quietly, picking up glasses and random pieces of junk. Lir stood up and padded around the sleeping mages to her.

"You want help?"

"Sure, if you don't mind."

Lir picked up the furniture while Mira finished gathering the glasses. By the time they finished, many of the guild members were starting to wake up and drag themselves off the floor, several looked miserably hungover. She sat down at the bar, watching everyone in the recovery process. After an hour or so, most of the guild was up and about, repairing damage or preparing for jobs.

"Dragon slayer!" A man's voice rang across the guild hall.

Lir turned her head to the noise, as did Natsu.

"Me?" he asked, jolting up.

A tall, blond man wearing spiked headphones and a long coat pushed past him and straight towards Lir.

"Me?" Lir asked, much less excited than Natsu.

"Yeah you. You're helping me with a mission."

He grabbed her forearm and dragged her back across the building.

What the hell is going on?

"Wait, wait, stop."

She wrenched her arm free of his grip and planted herself firmly in the middle of the room.

"Are you going to explain anything to me or just start dragging me around like a sack of potatoes?"

The man rolled his eyes before shoving a mission request form in her face. '8,000,000 jewels' was printed across the top in huge numbers followed by nearly three paragraphs of information, not that she got to read it as he snatched it away.

"The mission requires a 'water-based mage' to be in the party and you're the only one available, so you're going to help us." The tone of his voice implied finality.

"I don't want to help you," she said, trying to mask her sneer.

Several people around her gasped.

"What?"

"I don't even know who the hell you are or what this mission even is."

"It has an eight million jewel reward, which is probably way out of your regular pay grade. You'd be stupid to turn it down."

"Well then mark me down for stupid and not helping you."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "look, the client won't take a team unless there is a water mage on it."

"That's not my problem."

A horrible, tense energy filled the air that made her want to just walk away, but he would probably just drag her back. Instead, she gave her best glare which really didn't stack up against his.

"It will be your problem when you run out of money because I know that Shadow Gear job didn't pay much," he retorted.

Angry, embarrassed heat flared up in her chest. He had a point. She looked away from his cocky smirk.

"I can find other work, you know," she muttered.

"Not with a 1,440,000 jewel pay cut you won't."

Ugh, he's right.

"Let me see that," she snatched the job request out of his hand.

The gist of the mission was the head of a mining company wanted them to recover some ore vein that they were forced to abandon when the mine flooded. 8,000,000 was a bigger reward than she had ever pursued and it worried her, there had to be a massive risk involved. But she couldn't wuss out just because of that.

"Fine."

"Good. We're meeting at the train station at 10," he said, turning to leave.

"Wait, you never told me your name," she called after him.

"I'm Laxus Dreyar," he replied.

Dreyar? Wasn't that Makarov's last name? There was no way that asshole was the guild master's… son? Grandson? Regardless, Makarov seemed far too kind to wind up with progeny that rude. She sighed and shook her head, getting the distinct feeling that she was going to regret agreeing to the mission. The clock ticked over to 8:30 and she figured that she'd better stock up on supplies.

Most of the stores were just opening as she made her way to the train station so she refilled her first aid kit and bought some rope and gloves. She deliberately moved as slow as possible, putting off the inevitable as long as she could. Laxus kept saying "we" and she didn't like the notion of working with a team especially if they were anything like him. Not to mention the idea of subjecting herself to motion sickness in front of them.

The giant clock at the train station read 9:47 so she sat down on the same bench that she nearly collapsed on when she first arrived in Magnolia. It occurred to her that she had only been in town for a few days and was already on her second mission. She pinched the fleshy part of her palm, trying not to think about it.

You're overthinking it. Stop it.

Fifteen or so minutes passed before Laxus's scent appeared. She looked in the direction it was coming from and saw him with three other mages; one tall man wearing early medieval armor and surrounded by several floating, wooden dolls, another man with long, lime green hair and a sword strapped to his hip, and a woman wearing an outfit Lir couldn't imagine being beneficial to exploring an abandoned mine. Laxus noticed her and walked across the platform, the three others following.

"Lir, this is the Thunder God Tribe, Bickslow, Freed, and Evergreen," he said, gesturing to each of them. "And this is our water mage."

"Water Dragon Slayer," she retorted.

"You're a dragon slayer?" Bickslow asked.

"You got it."

Freed handed her a train ticket and she sighed.

"Do have a problem with taking the train?" Freed asked.

"Yeah, I get motion sickness."

"Ugh. Why did we even bother bringing you?" Evergreen said, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know, maybe to give Laxus someone to sympathize with?" She retorted.

"What are you talking about?" Freed demanded, sounding offended.

"He's a dragon slayer too, I'm sure he gets plenty motion sick if he's half as powerful as he makes himself out to be."

The Thunder God tribe exchanged confused glances. Laxus just glowered.

"How could you tell?"

"I can smell it. Dragon slayer magic has a particular scent."

The group fell silent as a train rushed by, throwing Lir, Evergreen, and Freed's hair into the breeze. Lir turned to face the train tracks, perfectly content to not talk at all. The train rolled in a few minutes later and they all boarded without a word between them. They took the first empty compartment on the left and Lir kept walking and sat down in the next one. She leaned her head against the window and prepared for a long ride.

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity and then some, the train rolled to a stop. She stood on wobbly legs and shuffled out into the hallway. Laxus left his compartment wearing a face that mirrored the way she felt. They staggered off the train to find the nearest objects to lean against like they had just run a marathon. Lir fumbled for a water bottle in her bag and chugged the whole thing in one go, and it relieved most of her nausea. Even though Water Dragon Slayer magic didn't have as much of a badass ring as lightning or fire, it was a hell of a lot easier to keep her element on her at all times.

"Are you going to make it?" Freed asked her with a hint of condescension.

"Why don't you ask Laxus, he looks worse than me."

At that, Laxus stood up straight and attempted to smother the queasy look on his face. The uncomfortable silence returned and the group started towards the client's house. Lir stewed in her frustration as they walked, kicking herself for agreeing to the stupid mission at all. They stopped in front of a large house made of stone and glass. Laxus knocked on the door and a moment later a middle-aged man with pale blue hair and a solemn countenance answered.

"You must be the Fairy Tail mages," he said, before ushering them inside.

A huge, crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling and the building smelled unrealistically clean, like no one lived in it. The man produced a map and a small piece of mineral and handed them to Laxus.

"This is a map of the mine, I've marked where the flooding has occurred and where the vein is located. You can see why a water mage is necessary."

Lir peered over Freed's shoulder to see several cave passages completely full of water leading to the ore vein. There was no way anyone could swim to it without getting lost and drowning.

"And this is the device that will harvest the mineral," he said, handing him a mechanical device the size of a small watermelon.

"Several scouts have reported an increased presence of monsters near the entrance, mostly ogres, and golems, but I trust that won't be a problem for you."

"Of course not," Laxus replied.

"Then I will await your timely return."

And just as quickly as they arrived, they left and began their trek towards the mine. The Thunder God Tribe talked and bickered among themselves with Laxus occasionally chiming in. Lir just followed as they made their way out of town and towards the mountains.

After a solid half hour of walking, they arrived at the entrance to the mine, which was half torn down presumably by the monsters.

"Looks like there's a party going on down there," Bickslow said.

"A party we can hopefully avoid," Freed retorted.

"What, you afraid of a few monsters?" Evergreen teased.

"No, but an abandoned mine seems like an unsavory place to fight anything."

"Alright, let's just get going," Laxus interrupted.

He led the way into the mine and Freed lit a lantern. For the first mile or so the tunnels were full of structural supports and relatively smooth. It was easy to tell where the miners were when they were forced to jump ship because the supports stopped abruptly. The musty, damp smell became thicker and the air itself felt stale. Lir let all of her senses reach out, trying to pick up on anything that might appear out of the darkness.

"Does anyone else hear that?" she asked.

The group stopped to listen.

"I don't hear anything," Freed said.

"Me either," Evergreen added.

"It's like, a low rumble."

Bickslow walked a little way up the cave before pressing his ear to the wall.

"I think you're just hearing things, sea serpent."

Lir rolled her eyes and heard the noise again, only louder. Evergreen said something to her but she ignored it and focused on the rumbling that seemed to be getting closer and closer…

"Look out!"

Lir tackled Bickslow just before the monster burst through the cave wall right where he had been standing. A huge, snake-like creature with giant fangs and glowing yellow eyes hissed at them.

"Nice save," Bickslow said before climbing to his feet.

"Let's get rid of this quickly," Laxus ordered.

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"

Evergreen shot hundreds of yellow energy needles at the snake, causing it to recoil.

"Dark Écriture: Pain!"

The snake gave a furious shriek before whipping its tail at them.

"X Formation!"

Bickslow's dolls formed an X shape that took the impact of the snake's attack. Taking advantage of its second of stupor and charged.

"Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!"

He hit it square on the head with a lightning fueled punch. The snake was flung back towards the cave entrance and crumbled in a heap on the ground, seemingly dead. The whole attack took less than thirty seconds. Now she understood why they seemed so nonchalant about an eight million jewel job. With barely a glance behind them, they continued on down the tunnel. Lir scrambled to catch up with them, only slightly less worried that she would wind up dead.

* * *

Evergreen peered around the corner for a moment before quietly returning to the spot they'd chosen to hide.

"There's fifteen of ogres, most fully grown. Also, there are a ton of holes in the floor of the side of the cave. I can't tell how deep they are so it's probably better to avoid them."

"Alright, we ambush them on my count," Laxus said.

Freed drew his sword, Bickslow readied his dolls, and Evergreen lowered her glasses. Lir drew water to her fists and took a deep breath in through her nose.

"Three...two...one...go!"

They all charged out at once, magic spells already flying at the ogres.

"Water Dragon Slayer's Roar!"

The impact of the attack slammed one of the small ones into the wall, stunning it. A bigger one swung at her, but she ducked around it. Three ogres focused on her.

"Water Dragon's Waterspout!"

The pillars of water hit the ogres, and then the ceiling sending water everywhere. She didn't feel all that bad about it, though, as Evergreen's Fairy Bomb: Gremlin filled the cave with dust particles and the thunder from Laxus's attacks made it felt like someone was punching her eardrums. The biggest of the three ogres swung at her again but was way too slow to catch her.

"Water Dragon's Breaker!" She hit the smallest one, knocking it back.

"Water Dragon's Riptide!" The jet of water finished it off.

Her ears picked up the rush of air of another attack, she dodged. Keeping her momentum going, she hit one with a roundhouse kick, which really didn't do much. The biggest one took another swing that she avoided, only to get hit in the gut by the other. They were backing her into a corner.

"Water Dragon's Riptide!"

She hit one and the other took a swing that whizzed right over her head.

"Seawall!"

She got the wall up just in time to stop a punch. The ogre pushed against her wall, not able to break through and she shoved back. A crack of thunder shook the cave and an ogre she hadn't even noticed crashed into her and threw her into the cave wall. Everything went black and the pain of blunt force trauma flooded her body. Instinctively, she staggered to her feet, which was a poor idea as another ogre hit her square in the chest, sending her flying back. She recovered before she hit the cave wall, but not fast enough to dodge the second attack. With its massive, gnarled hand, it backhanded her. The impact made her black out for a split second, just long enough for the ogre to grab the front of her shirt and lift her off the ground.

Oh, not good.

It turned and hurled her at the wall of the cave. She braced for the impact but hit something much softer than stone. Someone had snatched her out of the air and now they were sliding across the damp ground, still way too fast.

"Laxus!" Freed shouted.

They were headed right at the holes in the ground that they had been so careful to avoid. Before she could react, the floor vanished from under them and they fell. The hole turned out to be a tunnel with a steep decline, like a tube slide. They slid down for nearly thirty seconds, the light fading away into pitch blackness. Suddenly, they were free falling. Lir shrieked. Laxus grabbed her under her arms and the cave lit up with bright yellow sparks. He slowed their descent to just below bone-breaking speed and they hit the gravely floor with a strong thud. The electricity ceased and they returned to total darkness. They both groaned and writhed as the shock of the impact wore off. He swore under his breath before climbing to his feet. Lir was a bit slower on the upswing but stood up after her legs stopped aching so much.

"Did you… save me?" she asked.

"You we're gonna get splattered on the wall, what was I supposed to do?" He retorted. "Let's just get out of here."

He grabbed her forearm - after a considerable amount of blind groping - and used a bolt of electricity to light up the cave for a second. The hole from which they had fallen was nearly eighty feet up.

"There's no way I can get us both back up there."

"Is there no other way out?"

He used the electricity again, only giving them a split second of light.

"Over there!"

Lir shuffled in the direction she saw another opening in the wall, dragging Laxus with her.

"Wait, do you hear something?"

Lir froze. A low groan echoed from the opening in front of them; it didn't sound that close yet. If only they could see for longer than second bursts.

Ugh, I'm going to have to try it…

She really wasn't good with the odd set of spells she had mysteriously acquired when she was younger and tried to avoid using them, but the situation was forcing her hand. She muttered the spell name but nothing happened.

"What?" Laxus demanded.

She said it again, but the cave remained dark.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Bioluminescence!" she shouted.

Her blue, swirly tattoos gave off a soft light that illuminated everything just enough for them to see.

"I did it!"

"Great, let's get out of here."

Laxus dragged her towards the tunnel, but the source of the groaning noise made them stop in their tracks. A humanoid figure ambled at them, covered head to toe in thick scales and fins like some sort of river monster. She cracked a whip of water at it but the attack just deflected off its scaly skin. Laxus pushed her back into the cavern, away from the monster.

"It smells so weird," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"Really, you're worried what that thing smells like?" he demanded.

It was a familiar scent, at least she thought, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Regardless, it was covered in a layer of decay, rot, and low tide. The monster hurled a blast of water at them. Laxus countered with a lightning bolt and launched another at its head. It simply knocked it out of the way with its forearm. Lir hurled a breaker wave to the same effect. It stopped walking for a second, gave a strange grunt, then lunged at her, knocking her back. The thunderous sound of one of Laxus's attacks filled the cave. She scrambled to her feet and jumped back up to the front line. He was still hammering away at it, but unable to inflict any visible damage.

"Let me try something," she said.

If she got Bioluminescence to work, maybe the others would too. She reached down deep inside her magic reserves and focused on a spell buried well under the others. A magic circle opened up under the monster and the cave filled with the scent of rotten eggs.

"Sulfur vent!"

Super hot, black smoke and water erupted in a pillar, slamming the monster into the roof of the cave. It fell and hit the ground hard.

"Ha! It worked!" Lir exclaimed.

Laxus just shook his head before walking over to the monster, it twitched when he prodded it with his shoe.

"As impressive as that was, I don't think it's dead."

Sure enough, it slashed at his leg and he leaped back.

"Fuck!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught blood seeping through his now torn pants. The monster ambled back to its feet, covered in charred scales, but otherwise unaffected.

"I've had enough of this," Laxus growled. "Raging Bolt!"

The explosion of electricity damn near blew out her eardrums and shook her down to her bones. The shockwave made her stagger back and her Bioluminescence flickered. The cloud of smoke cleared but the monster was still standing.

"What the fuck is this thing?"

It continued its advance, forcing them to back further into the cavern. Lir wracked her brain for any way to stop it, but if Laxus couldn't bring it to heel they really didn't have a lot of options. A unison raid probably wasn't going to happen, they barely had any idea how the other fought.

"I have an idea," she said.

"At this point, I'll take anything."

"You have some fancy, giant spell right?"

"Thunder Nova."

"Yeah, yeah, that."

"It takes forever to cast, though."

They were approaching the back wall of the cave.

"I'll distract it, you cast your spell."

"Are you crazy? That thing'll tear you to shreds!"

"You said you'd take anything."

Laxus gave an especially intense glower.

"Alright fine."

A magic circle appeared beneath him as he focused all his energy on the spell. Against all instinct, Lir moved forward. The monster directed its attention to her. She slung several Water Dragon's Breakers at it, to little avail. Maybe if she couldn't damage it, she could slow it down.

"Water Dragon's Seawall!"

A massive, thick wall of water sprung forth and filled the entire size of the cave, the only way the creature could go was through. Such an enormous wall required a massive amount of energy to maintain and she could feel what was left of her magic reserves draining quickly. The monster jabbed at the wall, only to recoil as the water vibrated at a high speed, almost like a water jet. It took several steps back before charging at the wall and slamming its body against it. She could feel the force through her arms.

"Laxus," she called out.

"Working on it."

The monster slammed into the wall again and her arms shook and burned under the pressure. She had about one more hit like that in her before she dropped the wall. The monster didn't seem to have the desire to take full body damage again. Instead, it began to press through the water with one arm.

"Laxus," she called again.

"Still working on it."

The monster's hand broke through the water and reached for her. She dropped the seawall - causing the cave to fill with ankle deep water - and jolted back.

"Laxus!" she shouted.

"Almost done!"

She glanced back over her shoulder, there were only about ten feet between the two of them. One good lunge from the monster and he was toast.

Alright, you fucker, let's go.

She slogged through the water and locked the monster in an over-under clinch. With every ounce of strength she had left she tried to force it back. Every muscle in her legs burned and she barely made any progress moving the damn thing. A sudden, sharp pain erupted in her torso, over and over and over. It was punching her in the stomach with its free arm, and its knuckles were lined with sharp spikes. Everything in her head was telling her to stop, at this rate, the monster was going to spill her guts all over the ground.

One more push, just one more…

She dug her left heel into the ground and shoved.

Laxus grabbed the back of her top and yanked her off the monster. He shoved a glowing yellow ball in the monster's face and bolted away from it. The sound of crackling static filled the cave and a huge burst of light practically blinded them. Laxus managed to put himself between her and the blast, shielding her from the worst of it but the shockwave still smacked her full force. Her ears rung and her vision went all wonky. Laxus shook her shoulders. He was saying something, but she still couldn't hear. She asked him if the monster was dead, only sure that she did based on the vibrations in her throat. He looked over his shoulder and then nodded. Then he directed his attention to her torso. She looked down to find tons of small, half-inch puncture wounds across every bit of exposed skin.

"Fuck," she said, starting to hear her voice again through the high-pitched ringing.

"They don't look deep," it sounded as though Laxus was speaking through a pillow.

He was right, they were mostly superficial, only breaking the skin enough to make it bleed. She was going to have nasty bruising, though. Laxus hauled her to her feet, her vision filled with black spots and her sense of balance practically disappeared.

"Are you going to make it?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine."

She took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down. Her heart stopped hammering and a bit of the head-spinning sensation dissipated. No sense in looking like a pansy.

"We should get that ore since we're already down here," she said, stretching her back.

"Good idea."

He produced the map and held it near a big swirl of her tattoos on the front of her shoulder.

"It looks like we're down here," he pointed at one of the lower caverns. "If we go up this way we should be able to get the ore and make it out."

"Sounds good."

Lir trudged ahead, ignoring the stabbing pain in her legs and torso. The tunnel twisted and wound at a slow incline and they walked in silence, save for Laxus's occasional directions. Eventually, they reached one of the flooded shafts which looked even more ominous in person. The tunnel sloped down at a steep angle and was swallowed up by pitch black water.

"No lightning shit, you hear me," she ordered.

He held his hands up in surrender.

She waded into the water before creating a bubble of air around herself, then Laxus followed, keeping very close. Even with her blue light, the void of the water around them was damp and oppressive.

"What's the deal with the bioluminescence thing?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not a dragon slayer spell, is it?"

"No, it's not. I'm not really sure what it is."

"How do you not know? You had to learn how to use it."

"Look, I don't understand it and I'd rather not to go into it," she snapped.

"Alright, jeez."

The shaft finally ended and they emerged from the water. There were seven more flooded tunnels along the way to the ore vein and with each one Lir fought more and more to keep up the pace. Finally, they reached the spot marked on the map. Lir collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily. Laxus pulled the mining device from his bag and stuck it on the exposed ore.

"You going to make it?" he asked.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm going to make it. Why wouldn't I make it?"

"Because you look horrible."

She flipped him off.

The machine ground away at the rock, filling the tunnel with clanging echoes. Lir focused on willing the pain to stop, which was only partially effective. After a moment, the cave fell silent.

"All this work for that?" he said, shaking the machine to indicate the small amount of mineral.

"It smells like adamantine," she said.

"Adamantine?"

"It's crazy hard, they use it to cut diamond and stuff."

She sighed and let her head rest against the cave wall. But her moment of respite was rudely interrupted by Laxus hauling her off the ground and throwing her over his shoulders in a fireman's carry.

"What the hell are you doing!" she screeched.

"Be real, you're not going to make it out of here on your own."

"Yes, I absolutely can."

Laxus just snorted and started walking. She squirmed and writhed, but he was way too strong.

"Cut that out or I'll leave you here."

She stopped fidgeting and relegated herself to her fate, but also trying to maintain the Bioluminescence so he didn't walk into a hole and kill them both. The movement of his shoulders irritated the wounds on her stomach and she silently hoped she would bleed on his fancy jacket. She did have to admit, begrudgingly, that he was moving a lot faster now.

"You realize how pathetic this is, right?" he asked.

"I was doing fine until you threw an ogre at me," she snapped.

She let out a dramatic groan and let herself go limp. The tunnels remained an unchanging series of jagged passages, broken up by open caverns. The further he walked, the more impressed she was that they hadn't splattered on the ground after falling through that hole.

"Are we anywhere near the exit?" she whined.

Laxus just jostled her and the stab of pain shut her up.

After another, ten… twenty minutes of walking - it was hard to tell - the scent of fresh air hit her.

"It's up there, I can smell it!" she exclaimed.

Sure enough, the cave began to lighten and the musty, earthy smell dissipated. Her eyes burned as they adjusted to the sunlight.

"Looks like we beat the others out," he said.

He knelt down in a grassy patch and let Lir slide off his shoulders. The friction irritated the wounds on her stomach and made them start bleeding again. She let herself lie back on the grass and dozed in and out of consciousness, probably not the best idea but she was exhausted.

"Laxus, you're alright!"

Lir sat up and saw the Thunder God Tribe running out from the cave.

"Of course I'm alright," he retorted.

"What happened?" Evergreen demanded.

"We got cornered by some freak monster, damn near turned Lir into a pincushion."

She gave him an angry glare.

"It almost took your leg off," she retorted.

"It didn't."

"Regardless, we need to get the both of you patched up, lest you bleed out now," Freed said.

"Deal with Lir first, she's in bad shape," Laxus said.

"I'm fine."

Freed sat down next to her, "you most certainly do not look fine."

He dug through his bag and produced his first aid kit.

"I swear, I'm fine."

"You won't be if I don't clean these wounds."

He pulled out some cotton balls, soaked them in rubbing alcohol, and then dabbed them on the punctures. It stung, but she kept a straight face.

"What attacked you, did you get a good look at it?"

"I got a real good look at it, but I have no idea what it was."

"How odd, this doesn't seem like an area that would have any undiscovered monsters in it."

"Tell me about it."

"I must sew these closed, they are too big to be left open."

"Sounds good," she said, her voice strained.

The stabbing, stinging pain of the needle was arguably less awful than the monster's punches but she still had to fight to keep from grimacing or squirming. To his credit, Freed finished quickly and wrapped her whole torso in gauze.

"I would advise you see an actual doctor when we return to Magnolia."

"Ok," was all she managed to force out.

Freed stood before hauling her to her feet.

"Ugh," the pain was renewed, but less awful than before.

Bickslow and Evergreen had already patched up Laxus and were examining the mining machine.

"Let's get this back to the client and away from this mine," Laxus said.

Lir tried to keep from moving her torso too much, but that was impossible if she wanted to walk at a semi-normal pace. The Thunder God Tribe insisted that Laxus and Lir wait at the train station while they wrapped things up with the client, something about too much movement irritating their injuries. They sat in silence on a bench, Laxus watching the people walking by and Lir sketching out the monster from the cave. She scribbled in the scales and wrote a few notes along the side. Out of her peripherals she caught him glancing at her notebook but said nothing. Eventually, the Thunder God Tribe returned and they boarded the train. The ride back was every bit as miserable as the one to the client's house. Lir still sat in a compartment by herself so she could wallow in her motion sickness in private.

On the walk back to the guild, the Thunder God Tribe was more than accommodating of Laxus and his stifled motion sickness. Lir wasn't about to complain because she got to walk at a much more comfortable pace. As they entered the guild hall, more than a few people stared at the odd group no doubt wondering what she was doing with them. She didn't blame them, she wondered the same thing. After signing a small stack of paperwork from Mira, Laxus turned to her.

"You weren't bad, pincushion," he said, with a smarmy expression.

She sneered at him.

"Here's your cut."

He tossed her a hefty bag of jewels.

"Thanks."

"I'll keep you in mind if we need a water mage again," he said, before turning to leave.

"Sounds good."

She opened the bag to find more money than she knew what to do with. She could buy so many nice watercolors and still have enough leftover to last her almost a whole year if she stuck to her frugal tendencies . Maybe the mission hadn't been completely awful.

* * *

AN: So I wrote like 8 versions of this chapter before I was happy with it…

Just in case anyone's worried about it, I'm not going to ship Lir with any of the canon characters. Any relationships she may or may not form with them will be platonic.

I picked another Foo Fighters song for this chapter (that's probably going to happen a lot :p) It mostly made me think of Lir getting all frustrated about Laxus/the Thunder God Tribe/the mission. The "I don't wanna look like that" especially reminded me of her not wanting to appear weak.

Thank you to everyone that has read this far, I really appreciate it.


	6. Goin' Down

Chapter 6: Goin' Down

"I have no idea what it was, but it was fucking powerful," Lir said.

"And it gave Laxus a hard time?" Warren asked, examining her sketchbook.

"Yeah, he had to use Thunder Nova to kill it."

"Thunder Nova?" Max asked, "that thing was no joke."

Lir rubbed the pink, not yet faded, marks on her torso, "no kidding."

"I've never seen anything like it," Warren said, giving her the book back.

"Of course you haven't, you don't go on jobs with an eight million Jewel pay grade," Vijeeter teased.

Warren huffed, "I go on higher ranked jobs than you."

"That's why you just picked a C-class job."

"The Marshalls had a serious skeever infestation! We couldn't just not help them."

Max, Vijeeter, and Lir laughed at Warren's indignation. But Lir wasn't going to complain, the job had been low stress and she got to do it with a group of mages much friendlier than Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe.

Magnolia was active with its midday crowd and the mages had to maneuver their way through throngs of people to reach the guild hall. The building itself was about three quarters complete with bits of scaffolding still around the outside and a few windows that hadn't been put in yet. But it was impressive considering two weeks ago it had been a pile of rubble. Makarov insisted on building it bigger and fancier, which proved a bit of a pain to build, not to mention plan, but it looked awesome. Even Lir was starting to become fond of it.

"I wonder who's around," Max said as they approached the front door.

"Hopefully everyone's back out on jobs," Warren replied.

Vijeeter pushed the door open and Lir could tell something was awry. She took a deep breath through her nose and a familiar, metal scent smacked her full force.

No way.

Sure enough, sitting at a table by himself, was Black Steel. An angry scowl was fixed on his face, but he wasn't antagonizing anyone. At least, not directly. A wide ring of empty tables surrounded him and a muted hush hung over the entire guild.

"What the hell is going on?" Warren asked no one in particular.

"He's not… he can't be attacking, can he?" Max asked.

"I don't know. I'm going to ask Laki," Vijeeter said, veering off to one of the tables of Fairy Tail mages.

Max and Warren followed, leaving Lir alone. Gajeel looked up and shot a sharp glare at her. She jolted and quickly walked to the bar. Sitting down at the first stool she could reach, the discomfort of being stared at subsided either because he stopped or because she wasn't just standing there. She took several deep breaths and focused on the grain of wood of the bartop.

"Can I get you anything, Lir?" Mirajane asked, making her way towards her.

"Just water please."

Mira pulled a glass from under the bar and filled it with water from the tap. Lir took a sip and felt a rush of magic energy.

"Hey, what's the deal with uh, tin can over there?" she asked, gesturing over her shoulder.

"Gajeel… joined Fairy Tail," Mira said.

"You're not serious are you?"

Mira pulled her eyebrows together and gave a slight frown, "yes, I'm not sure what the Master was thinking, inviting him in."

"Makarov invited him to join?"

"Evidently," she cocked her head in Gajeel's direction.

Lir sat back on her stool as Mira moved down the bar to take an order. What the hell could have compelled Makarov to invite him in? Not only was Gajeel a member of the guild that was responsible for the destruction of the guild hall and injury of its members, but was the mage that crucified Shadow Gear. He had to know the trauma it would cause Levy, Jet, and Droy. And Lucy, for that matter. There had to be a reason. She stole a glance at Gajeel who was still glowering at nothing in particular.

Why was he here? He seemed to have no trouble expressing his disdain for Fairy Tail barely a few weeks ago. Why join the very guild he tried to destroy? He wasn't giving anything away, sitting there by himself. Another unfamiliar scent distracted her from her studying. It was kind of a spring rain smell and she slowly turned her head to find the source.

A blue haired woman wearing a white and blue outfit peeked out from behind a pillar. Lir thought she recognized her from the Phantom Lord debacle, but she didn't look quite the same. Yeah, now that she thought about it that was the woman Gray fought, just with a haircut and a different outfit. What was Makarov thinking? Two Phantom Lord mages? She couldn't make sense of it, so she broke out her sketchbook and flipped to the next blank page. Angling herself so she could see Gajeel out of her peripherals, she started to sketch. He didn't make any other expressions besides 'pissed off' so it was easy to capture his essence. On the side of the page she wrote her best guess on his age - late teens or early twenties - and the fact that he used to be in Phantom Lord. After a moment of contemplation she added a sketch of the blue haired woman to the page.

"Hey, Mira," she called, waving her over.

"Yes?"

"What's the other new mage's name? The blue haired one."

"That would be Juvia Lockser. She was part of the Element Four in Phantom Lord."

Lir nodded and wrote everything down. She had no use for the information but it was near compulsive to put everything in a sketchbook.

"She's a bit odd," Mira added.

"Odd?"

"I think she is rather infatuated with Gray."

"That would make anyone a little strange," she said with a sly grin.

Mira giggled and picked up a dirty glass to clean. Lir scribbled at her sketchbook absentmindedly and just listened to the general din of the guild.

* * *

Even with Natsu and Gray absent from the guildhall, random fights still broke out at almost predictable intervals. Many of the less combative mages were able to avoid them seemingly by instinct alone. It looked as though Mira was able to predict which glasses and plates would be wiped out by a brawl and picked them up mere seconds before they would have been shattered on the ground.

After a few hours of talking to Max, Warren, Vijeeter, and several others Lir felt mentally exhausted. She needed a break. She excused herself and started towards the front door of the hall. Unfortunately, her brawl detection skills were not up to par and she didn't notice Nab being hurled directly at her by Elfman. The gigantic mage hit her with the force of a train. She was knocked several feet to the side before she recovered, but not quick enough to avoid hitting another mage herself.

"Watch where you're fuckin' going!"

Of course, it was Gajeel.

"It was an accident, chill out," she retorted.

"Someone scrawny like you should be careful who you fuck with."

Lir's eye twitched. One, she was not scrawny. She was six feet tall and had enough lean muscle to firmly place her out of the gaunt category. Two, she was plenty good at hand to hand combat to not be worried about him.

"Oh please."

"What? You think you could beat me in a no-magic fight?"

"I think I'm tougher than you realize."

Gajeel gave a barking laugh and shoved her.

"You hang out with the fairies, you don't stand a chance!"

An angry heat bubbled up in her chest and she shoved him back.

"You don't know anything about me," she spat.

"Do you want to go?" he demanded.

"Do you? I don't want you to waste your time fighting a wimp," her tone dripped sarcasm.

She got right up in his face, close enough to smell his metal piercings.

"Take it outside!" Macao shouted, "the hall just got fixed!"

Gajeel huffed and stormed outside. Lir shook her head and followed. She just barely saw him go around the back of the building to the grass yard. Mentally preparing herself for a fight with someone that outweighed her by at least fifty pounds, she put on her game face and let the adrenaline course through her. As soon as she rounded the corner he was there with a punch aimed right at her head. She ducked and bounded away to give herself distance.

"You're still quick," he said.

"You're still a douchebag," she retorted.

He gave a 'what are you going to do' shrug. She just lifted her arms and stepped towards him. They locked into the clinch and pushed against each other. She didn't like trying to fight someone so much bigger and stronger than herself standing up, so she swept one of his legs out from under him and threw him to the ground. For a split second, he was stunned and she tried to put his arm in a kimura lock. But he was fast and shrimped out of her attempted pin. He got her in his guard, locking his legs around her waist. She squirmed and fought to keep him from putting her in a headlock. With a quick movement, she was out from under him, but he caught her legs with his. He grabbed her ankle and twisted his upper body one way and his legs the other, wrenching her leg.

"Fuck!"

She pushed against him with her other foot and shot out of his hold. Her leg hurt like a bitch, but definitely not enough to stop fighting. He jumped to his feet, knowing that was where his advantage was and she followed suit. She lunged for a single leg takedown but he pried his leg out of her grip and remained standing.

A small crowd had gathered around them, tensely watching the bout. Cold nervousness filled her up. They were going to count on her, a random independent mage to beat someone that had just joined their guild. Albeit, they had more reasons to like her than him, but it was still a highly stressful situation. Gajeel caught her eyeing the crowd and gave her a wicked smile.

"Gettin' stage fright?" he taunted.

She took a sharp inhale and decided not to respond.

"Come on, Lir!" Vijeeter shouted.

With a deep breath, she pulled her focus back to the fight. It was nothing. Not life or death, no money on the line. Just pride. She lunged for a takedown again but he caught her, lifted her in the air, then threw her on the ground. She absorbed the whole impact on her shoulder and skidded across the grass. A combination of stinging and aching pain spread through her arm and back. But he didn't seem done with her. He locked her in the clinch again and tried to pitch her to the ground. She resisted the first throw but he got her on the second. As fast as she could she shrimped away. He tried to mount her, but she caught him in her guard. It wasn't a solution, however, as he was pushing her arms back.

Ah fuck it.

She shot out from under him and wrapped her thighs around his right shoulder. She grabbed his wrist, locked her ankles together and leaned back. He writhed against the armbar but she was strong enough to keep him from breaking it. Wanting him to tap right then, she pulled harder on his arm.

"Fuck!" he shouted before repeatedly whacking her leg with his free arm.

She released him and he rolled away. Avoiding her sore leg, she stood and felt herself casting an angry look at him. She wasn't happy that she beat him, she was mad that he doubted her. Mad that he was even there. He looked just as pissed. They glared at each other surrounded by a tense, awkward air. Before he could sling an insult she turned on her heel and stalked back into the hall, still without a clue as to why Makarov let him in the guild.

* * *

The huge friction burn on her shoulder stung with every dab of the alcohol soaked cloth. Several other crumpled strips of fabric, used to clean out the dirt and grass, littered the table. Once the big, red scrape was sufficiently disinfected she laid a piece of gauze over it, and then secured it with tape. As for her leg, not much could be done besides icing and stretching. She stuffed all the medical supplies back in her first aid kit and wadded all of her trash into a tight ball.

Mira appeared before her, holding a glass of amber alcohol. It smelled like whiskey.

"Congratulations on beating him," she said, offering the glass.

She took it and downed half the drink, letting the bite chase away the foggy anger in her head.

"It was nothing."

"I think it was impressive. How did you learn to fight like that?"

Lir took another sip, "You know, just… around."

"Around?" Mira asked, sitting down.

"You get in enough fights and you learn."

"Sounds like learning magic."

"Pretty much."

Lir didn't know how to pick a conversation back up when they hit lulls so she accepted the awkward silence as punishment for her lack of social skills. Mira seemed to sense the tension and glanced back at the bar.

"I have to get back to work," she said.

"Alright, thank you," Lir replied, lifting her drink.

She let her mind go blank, refusing to think about the situation she was in. But a metallic scent pierced her tenuous peace. She decided not to look at him.

"Hey," he barked.

She made a big show of slowly turning her head to meet his eyes.

"What?"

"That was a good fight. You're damn strong."

Her brain stopped functioning, was he complimenting her? On beating him in a fist fight? She opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. He nodded, paused for a second, and then turned and left.

What the fuck?!

Was that typical behavior for people? Had she spent so long in the wilds that such an interaction was considered normal? To go from murderous intent, to hate, to willing to compliment someone? No, he was trying to make a change. That was the only explanation. For a moment, she tried to put herself in his shoes; he had been in Phantom Lord for who knows how long, influencing his behavior and reinforcing negative thought patterns. Maybe complimenting her on beating him was a big step for him. She shook her head, she really wasn't the person to be interpreting the actions of someone clearly dealing with some issues.

She gathered all of her scattered belongings and stuffed them back into her backpack. How had she got so tangled in a guild? She'd sworn off them, not wanting the drama that tended to come along with them like guild wars and incomprehensible behavior. But there she was, dealing with one of the most mind-boggling cases of intra-guild politics she'd ever seen.

* * *

I only have a casual knowledge of MMA/grappling, but I really enjoy it and I'm trying to be accurate in my descriptions of moves and how fights play out.

The song is by Three Days Grace, it seemed fitting to play in the background of Lir and Gajeel beating each other up.


	7. You've Got a Friend

Chapter 7: You've Got a Friend

She couldn't help but wonder if Gajeel was capable of any other facial expression besides 'angry scowl.' The image of his wicked smile during the guild war flashed through her mind. Ok, so normal expressions. She glanced up at him, still sitting across the table from her, glowering at the floor. He spoke very little and seemed to be alright with just sitting there doing nothing, as he had been when he joined her table an hour ago.

Most of the angry pressure from the day before dissipated during the night and had been replaced by very awkward tension. Part of it came from the prickling sensation that danced across her shoulders and back as the rest of the guild members stole glances at them, wondering how the hell the situation had developed from having a grudge match to tolerating each other's presence. The other part came from the few feet between Lir and Gajeel themselves. She didn't know how to handle whatever this was and it didn't look like he did either.

She put her book down on the table and picked up another from the top of the stack and leafed through the pages.

"What are you doin'?" Gajeel asked.

"Huh?"

"You lookin' for something?"

"Uh, yeah," she said, digging through her bag.

She produced her sketchbook and flipped to the page with the strange monster from the mines with Laxus.

"I have no idea what this thing is, but it gave Laxus and me a hard time."

He scanned the sketchbook page before shaking his head.

"I've never seen anythin' like that before."

"I was trying to find something about it, but I'm not having much luck," she said.

Nothing in the book on human-monster hybrids was striking her as similar to the mysterious monster. She dropped the book on the table in exasperation and put her head down. She couldn't fathom why the monster was bothering her so much, but she was compelled to figure out what it was. Something about that familiar smell.

Gajeel pulled a book out of the stack and flipped through the pages. Lir continued reading and finding nothing. Their silence and lack of significant action made everyone's focus on them dissipate, which was nice and allowed her to concentrate more. The activity in the guild hall died down, most of the members went out on jobs or just out. Lir's head began to pound from reading for so long, she wasn't sure how Levy did it. She'd ask for her help, but Levy had found any and all reasons to not be in the hall.

"Do you want to go grab lunch somewhere?" She asked.

Gajeel gave her a dumbstruck expression.

"I know a pretty good place," she offered.

He flung his hands up, "sure, why not?"

They stood at the same time, drawing quite a bit of attention to themselves. Gajeel glared at several of the gawkers which made them look away. Lir walked quickly out of the hall and a little ways up the street before stopping for Gajeel. He strolled casually up to her.

"So where to?" he asked.

"Just up here," she said, gesturing up the street.

They walked in silence, not necessarily comfortable but not unbearable. The stares from the townspeople were almost worse than those from the guild members, the fear was far more evident. It was like a shark swimming through a school of fish, a bubble of space forming around them as they walked. Gajeel's face remained neutral, well, his version of neutral which was a slightly less pissed off scowl. Lir pinched her pointer finger, focusing on the sharp pain rather than the people around her. It only took a few minutes of walking to get to the restaurant, The Sugar Bass, and they went inside. The smell of cooking fish made her mouth water immediately.

"Shoulda figured that the water dragon slayer would be a fan of seafood," Gajeel said.

She shrugged and then asked the hostess for a table. Gajeel loomed behind her as they walked across the restaurant to a two person table near a window. They sat and distracted themselves with the menus. Lir began to wonder if this had been a good idea. What good was it really doing? They both glanced to the left as they heard someone approach, a waitress with pale green hair.

"Can I get you anything to drink or something to start with?" she asked.

"I'll just have water, please," Lir replied.

"Same," Gajeel added.

"So are you two on a date?" she asked, playfully.

Horror overcame Lir and it manifested in the most appalled expression possible. Gajeel looked liable to tear the poor woman's head off.

"Oh, ah, no," Lir choked out.

"Oh, pardon me," the waitress's face flushed red. "Let me get your drinks."

She left as quickly as she could. The silence that settled between them filled to the brim with discomfort. Neither wanted to think about the idea of dating the other. Lir shuddered and felt terrible for dragging Gajeel along.

* * *

The lunch never really recovered from the offhand comment, they ate in silence and returned to the guild. Lir busied herself with putting her books back in the guild library while Gajeel continued to sulk. She picked up a thick, red leather bound book and climbed up the ladder to reach the higher shelves. She wasn't sure what she wanted out of Gajeel. Did she want to see him as a friend? Or just not hate him?

What did he want?

The tin can seemed determined to keep his thoughts and feelings hidden. She picked up the remaining four books and a loud crash from upstairs made her jump and drop them all. As she scrambled to collect the books she prayed that it wasn't Gajeel starting a fight. She sprinted up the stairs and as soon as she saw the flash of pink hair she knew exactly what was going on. Lir walked quickly to Gajeel and intercepted Natsu and Gray before they could reach him.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Natsu demanded.

"He joined the guild."

"What! Why the hell would Makarov let him in?" Gray exclaimed.

"Makarov invited him to join."

"Has the old man lost it?"

"He does realize that he literally crucified Shadow Gear, right?" Lucy asked.

Lir saw Gajeel grimace out of the corner of her eye. She positioned herself between Natsu and Gray, and Gajeel.

"He does, and he thinks Gajeel deserves a second chance."

Both boys backed down, deflating like she'd poked a hole in their outrage. With several grumbles, they walked over the bar. Lir sat down with careful movements, avoiding eye contact with Gajeel, but she could feel him looking at her.

"What?" her tone came out as more of a snap than she intended.

"Nothin'," he replied, looking away.

She had done what she felt was right with little consideration for how Gajeel would react. She gained no clues trying to read his face, just the same old scowl. Discomfort roiled in her stomach and the muscles in her shoulders tensed. She didn't get up from the table though, figuring abandoning Gajeel in the guild wasn't the best idea.

The tension in the hall was palpable, and Lir thought it was starting to affect Gajeel. His resting bitch face had switched to a pointed glower. With time, her sense of smell had become more sensitive, not just being able to pick up fainter or more distant scents, but things she would not have expected when she was younger. People and animals released certain scents based on their emotions. Someone once told her it had something to do with chemicals that were released to trigger different responses. Gajeel smelled like stress and anger.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. A fight was brewing and not just a typical guild brawl. Would she try and fight off whoever attacked? She glanced at Gajeel. Probably, at least just to hold them off. He caught her eyes and shifted so he was supporting more of his weight on his legs, rather than his elbows on the table, getting ready to jump up at the first sign of a fight. She gave him a nod, watching behind him. The hammer of her heart grew louder and louder…

Suddenly, the curtains on the stage flew open and Mira's beautiful voice floated across the guild hall, calming everyone down. The tension melted instantly and their attention redirected to her. Lir let her muscles relax and her magic power settle down, something she hadn't realized that she was building up. Gajeel stood, jolting the table, and stalked over towards the bathrooms.

Lir lifted her hands in defeat, "Alright then, bye."

"Lir!"

She whipped her head around to see who was calling her. It was Max, Warren, Vijeeter, and Laki beckoning her over.

"What is it?" she asked, walking over to them.

"What are you doing hanging out with Gajeel?" Max asked.

She shrugged, "he looked pretty miserable by himself."

"He always looks miserable!" Vijeeter exclaimed.

"But why?"

Lir looked down, contemplating. She had no idea so she shrugged again.

"He's a member of your guild, isn't he?"

"Yeah but, he's Gajeel," Warren said.

Lir sat down and didn't give an answer because she didn't have one.

"I had no idea Mira could sing like that."

"Yeah, she's a lot more than just a magazine model. She does a lot to keep the guild running on a day to day basis," Warren said.

Mira's graceful, kind personality made it appear as though she would be overwhelmed by the guild's chaos, but she was able to reel in the crazy mages with relative ease. Lir closed her eyes and focused on the clear, delicate notes that filled the air. Her fingers twitched with the urge to draw. Maybe Mira onstage, or the guild members watching her intently. However, as she was pulling her notebook out Mira's song tapered to a quiet end.

"Awesome! Who's next?" Macao shouted.

The stage lights went out for a brief moment and when they came back on the entire guild let out a collective confused and shocked sound. In place of Mirajane sat Gajeel in a white suit with a matching wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses. Lir's jaw dropped.

"I wrote this song myself," he said. "It's called Best Friend. I hope you like it."

"I hope you choke!" someone shouted.

Lir cringed, she couldn't handle public humiliation even if it wasn't her being humiliated. Gajeel ignored the outrage of the crowd and started his song anyway. If you could call it a song.

What the fuck?

To call it singing would have been generous. His off-key notes grated against her enhanced hearing and made her wince. The rest of the guild wasn't taking too kindly to his… music either. Several mages booed him either on principle or because they thought his song was terrible, but more than likely both. If he was trying to make a good impression, he was crashing and burning spectacularly. She plugged her ears, not caring how rude it looked. Natsu didn't seem to be taking too well to it either and also had his hands over his ears.

"This is the crappiest song I've ever heard!" he exclaimed.

A guitar flew through the air and hit him square in the forehead.

"What the hell was that for?" he demanded at Gajeel who had launched the instrument. He tried shouting back, but his voice was filtered through the enchanted harmonica that floated around his head and all that came out was shrieking. The two lunged at each other in the air and locked into a brawl. Everyone watched the spectacle in awe until the two dragon slayers knocked into the table Gray and Erza were sitting at. Lir heard something about a strawberry cake and then the guild went from tense to chaos in the blink of an eye. Spells flew in the air, furniture exploded, mages crashed into each other and the walls.

"Water Dragon's Sea Wall," Lir exclaimed, jumping up just quick enough to block an incoming table.

She shoved her way through the crowd, elbowing and ramming people out of the way.

"I'm going to kick your ass, metal face!" Natsu shouted.

"Bring it on, flame breath!" Gajeel retorted.

Lir weaved around the fighting mages, protecting her head with her arms until she reached the front door and burst out onto the street. Fairy Tail was crazy. There was no point in lingering around the front of the hall, waiting for the brawl to end, and it was late anyway. She cast one last glance at the building before heading off towards the town market for food.

* * *

Most towns had at least one or two hotels that offered long term stays for wandering independent mages. Lir chose the Bronze Plains Hotel for its proximity to Fairy Tail and quality tap water. She stood at the wooden counter in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for a pot of soup on the stove, humming the tune of Mira's song.

Don't forget

You always have

You always have a place to return to

And people that are waiting for you

She dumped the chopped celery into the pot and ignored the feeling that the lyrics drudged up. That kind of longing for… somewhere or someone. She thought about all of the places she had yet to visit instead.

BANG BANG BANG BANG!

She jolted, snapped violently out of her thoughts by someone bashing on her door with an angry fist.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" She shouted, not bothering to leave her bunch of carrots in the kitchen.

She flung the door open before the knocker could beat it down to find a severely injured Gajeel standing on her front step.

"What the hell happened to you?!" She demanded.

"I got beat up." He replied flatly.

"Do you need me to kill someone?" She brandished the carrots like a knife.

He gave a humorless smirk.

She stepped to the side to let him in. His walk was afflicted with a heavy limp and there was a large burn mark on his left forearm, not to mention the vast assortment of bruises, cuts, and lacerations. She tossed the carrots back into the kitchen and helped him to the sofa. Once he was settled she dashed to the bathroom to get her medical supplies and a stack of towels.

She started with the cuts on his head that were still bleeding heavily, clearing the blood away with a towel then cleaning the wounds with antiseptic. Gajeel remained silent, barely flinching as she worked. She moved to his forearm where a giant burn mark twisted and mutilated the skin. The smell was awful.

"Was this… Laxus?"

"Yeah."

She disinfected the wound, put an aloe salve on it, then wrapped it up with a bandage. She knew Laxus was an asshole, but attacking another guild member? Not that she didn't believe him, it was a lightning strike wound and he was the only lightning mage around.

With the last wound cleaned and bandaged Lir had reached the limit to how much she could help him. She had no healing magic or potions, but the wounds were not so bad that they wouldn't heal on their own. She sat awkwardly next to him, not sure if she should comfort him or just give him space.

"I'm going to finish cooking. You can stay if you want some."

He grunted.

She rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen. It took another thirty minutes of cooking and hiding in the kitchen for the soup to finish. She ladled it into two bowls and took a deep breath before walking back out into her own damn living room.

"Here." She offered him a bowl

He took it and silence descended on the room. Not the semi-comfortable silence they had in the guild hall, but one laden with stressful emotions. He did seem to like the soup, at least.

"You're not going to tell me what happened, are you?"

He gave a grunt that seemed to imply 'no, I won't.' A sense of discomfort settled in her stomach, driving out her appetite, and she lowered her bowl suddenly not hungry. Was she helping him at all? Was she making it worse?

"I let Jet and Droy kick the shit out of me." He said.

"What?"

Was he joking?

"They were pissed, started attacking me, and I just didn't fight back."

Lir gaped at him, only snapping her mouth shut after several inconsiderate seconds.

"I'm sorry, Gajeel."

"I don't want your pity," he snapped.

She cast her eyes down before filling her spoon with soup. They ate in silence.

By the time they reached the last of the soup, Gajeel's wounds had bled through the gauze wraps. And she had used the last of it on his numerous injuries.

"You're more than welcome to stay, but I have to go out for more medical supplies to redress those wounds," she said, standing up.

He shrugged, "I don't want to make a problem for ya."

"You're not, just hang out here until I get back."

She closed the door behind her and headed for town. The foot traffic was slow as it was late in the evening, the sun just dipping below the horizon. Calarook Apothecary was, thankfully, on Lir's side of town and took just a short walk to reach. However, a familiar scent hit her like a freight train. It was strong and it was angry. She whipped her head towards the wall of furious emotions heading her way.

Laxus Dreyar stormed down the street, filling the air with static charge. She instinctively took a step back, having witnessed how powerful he was she really didn't want to be in his way. But he stopped and snapped his head towards her like he'd just picked up her scent. She flinched.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, stomping over to her.

"I uh, I, Gajeel, I needed to -" Lir stammered.

"Nevermind, I don't care," he snapped. "You should leave town for a few days."

"What?"

"Go take a job or something. Just get out of town for tomorrow."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Would you just listen to me?" he demanded, practically shouting.

"Alright… I'll-"

"Good," he said, although not sounding happy.

He stalked off down the street without another word, leaving Lir behind, completely baffled.

* * *

Thank you all so much for reading! I can't believe how many pageviews the story got after I posted the last chapter. I'd love to know what you think of the story so far, any feedback is greatly appreciated. (I hope Lir's character is consistent/clear)

I chose the James Taylor song You've Got a Friend for this chapter based on the scene where Lir defends Gajeel and I think I consider this the beginning of their friendship.

The Fantasia Arc is next!


	8. Papercut

Chapter 8: Papercut

The Harvest Festival was in full swing and the whole city was into it, except for the water and iron dragon slayers. They sat off to the side of the guild hall, watching the bustling activity of mages preparing for the evening festivities, hanging up decorations and running in and out of the building. Maybe people that were invested in the town got a lot out of the festival. Lir had never stayed in one place long enough to feel really into harvest festivals.

"So why ain't you a member of Fairy Tail?" Gajeel asked.

Lir couldn't contain her glare and let him have the full force of it.

"I get it, touchy subject. Sheesh."

She crossed her arms and sulked back into her chair. That was the one question she was going to allow herself to be a petulant brat about. She didn't even have a good answer for herself, nevermind Gajeel. It was an embarrassing explanation regardless of who heard it. Gajeel shifted in his chair and then rubbed the guild mark on his shoulder.

"You ever… thought about joining?"

She had, Fairy Tail caught her attention like no other guild.

"Maybe," she said flatly.

Gajeel didn't press further, to her relief. So they continued to sit and watch the activity. Lir felt a little bad about not helping, but she wasn't technically a part of Fairy Tail and no one had asked. She picked up a flyer that had been left on their table, listing the activities Fairy Tail would host over the course of the festival. Under the present date was listed the "Miss Fairy Tail Contest." From what she gathered it was some beauty contest for the girls in the guild. A plus side to not being in the guild was that she couldn't be cajoled into joining said contest.

She and Gajeel watched as Warren directed Nab and Vijeeter in hanging up a large banner with "Fantasia Festival" written on it. Warren kept yelling at them to stop adjusting it so much as it became more and more crooked as they moved it. Gajeel just shook his head. Then, the lights in the guild dimmed and a spotlight appeared on stage. Max, wearing a purple suit and a huge, red bowtie, jumped out on stage.

"The long wait is finally over ladies and gentleman, welcome to the one and only Miss Fairy Tail Contest! Where your favorite fairies fight in a battle of beauty. I'm Max Alors, sand wizard extraordinaire, and I'll be your host for this exciting event!"

"What is this exactly?" Gajeel asked, squinting at the stage.

"I think it's like a beauty pageant," Lir replied, reading over the flyer again.

"That's stupid. This is a magic guild, right? Why the hell would they have a beauty pageant?"

Lir could only shrug, she had… limited experience with guilds and each one was so different that she really didn't have any idea as to why they would. It did seem like a very Fairy Tail thing to do, though.

"Now let's meet entry number one, she's the exotic beauty that will drink you under the table any day of the week! Cana Alberona!" Max said.

The curtains peeled back revealing Cana, holding a deck of cards in one hand.

"Now bust out some magic and show us your stuff!"

Cana chuckled and the cards illuminated with magic energy before swirling around her in a thick cloud. She flung them away to reveal that she was wearing a bikini.

"The prize money can cover my tab," she said before the curtains closed.

The crowd cheered and hollered. Lir wondered how this was even being judged.

"On to entry number two, she may be new to the guild but her magic is S-Class, a radiant beauty in rain or shine, Juvia Lockser!" Max swung his arm in a grand gesture and the curtains opened again.

"What the hell, Juvia?" Gajeel muttered.

Juvia drew a large amount of water to herself, forming around her like a dress. Lir was intrigued until Juvia flung the water out over the crowd in a light, shimmering spray to reveal a bikini much like Cana.

"Are you kiddin' me!" Gajeel exclaimed, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Is this what this guild does to people?"

Lir had to admit, it was odd seeing the usually somber Juvia flaunting a bikini, and fawning over Gray. She'd heard they fought when Phantom Lord attacked, what could have gone on then to cause such a change?

"Next up is entry number three, Fairy Tail's famous centerfold! Her beauty has stolen the hearts of men and women all over the land, Mirajane!" Max announced.

The crowd went absolutely wild, hollering and cheering as Mira emerged on stage.

"My specialty is transformation magic, so I'll show you a new side of me."

"I see where this is going," Gajeel said.

With a flourish of her arm and a flash of magic light, Mira transformed just her head into that of Happy.

"This is my Happy face, aye!"

The crowd was confused, but several burst into laughter, including Happy himself.

Another flourish and she transformed again, "this is my Gajeel face, grr!"

Lir burst into hysterics, Gajeel could only gape and make noises of distress. Mira curtsied, giving a sweet smile, and the curtains closed. Lir wiped her eyes as Gajeel buried his face in his hands in shame.

Erza went next, and used her Requip magic to transform into a Gothic lolita outfit, which drew a lot of oohs and aahs from the crowd. After Mirajane's hilarious but not at all pageant-like performance, Lir had her money on Erza to win.

"And here is entry number five, petite and cute, this fairy is as smart as she is charming, let's hear it for Levy McGarden!" Max said.

The curtains opened and revealed Levy, wearing a short, orange dress with black tights. Was she going to solid script herself into a swimsuit?

"Let me show you my solid script!"

With a flick of her wrist, she wrote 'snow' in the air and the word appeared before her, made entirely of snow. Then she wrote another word and a cloud of the vibrantly colored butterflies burst from a formation that spelled the third was 'flower' much to the same effect as butterfly. Lastly, she wrote out 'metal' and a large form of the word dropped on the stage with a heavy thud. Levy bowed and waved to the crowd before exiting stage left. Gajeel squirmed in his seat.

"At least she did something impressive with her magic," he grumbled.

Lir cast him a sideways glance. No disparaging comment? It was odd, for as much as he teased and tormented the other guild members, he gave Levy a wide berth. Was it guilt?

Max appeared on stage again, "Here we have entry number six, the sniper with her sights set on your heart, the one and only Bisca Mulan!"

The curtains opened revealing Bisca wearing a bikini.

"Requip time, the gunner!"

A rifle material materialized in her hands and she tossed four coins into the air. She fired a single shot, caught the coins, and showed off her four bullseyes between her fingers.

"Damn," Lir muttered.

She could hear Lucy panicking from backstage, something about not getting rent money. Bisca bowed and exited the stage.

"Let's move on to entry number seven, Fairy Tail's rising star, she shines as brightly as the spirits who guide her way, Lucy Hear-"

Lucy burst on to the stage, cutting Max off, "Wait! Don't say my last name out loud!"

The crowd, most of which were not present for the revelations made during the war with Phantom Lord, sounded confused. Thankfully, Max was quick on the draw and brought everything back to the competition.

"Well then, let's show us what you got!"

"Me and my spirits are going to do a cheer for you guys."

"Entry number eight!" A familiar voice called out.

"Hey! I haven't even started my routine yet!" Lucy exclaimed.

Evergreen strolled onto stage, wearing her same get up from the mineshaft mission.

"I am the very definition of fairy, not to mention the very definition of beauty. I'm the only woman here that embodies everything that men desire so, therefore, the winner is me, the lovely Evergreen." She whipped out her fan. "Now this idiotic contest can end!"

"What a bitch," Gajeel grumbled.

"Can't you go mess up a different contest!? I really need this prize money!" Lucy cried.

"Lucy, don't look her in the eye!" Gray shouted.

What?

Evergreen turned to face Lucy, "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

She lowered her glasses, her eyes flashed yellow, and then Lucy turned to solid stone. Lir and Gajeel lurched forward in their seats.

"This is bad, everyone get out of here, now!" Max shouted.

With that, eighty percent of the people in the hall stampeded out the front door. A few mages remained, mostly those Lir recognized.

"What do you think you're doing Evergreen?" Makarov demanded.

"Just making things a little more interesting," Evergreen replied with a chuckle.

The curtains behind her lifted to reveal a stone statue of every other girl that had competed.

"Evergreen, return them to normal this instant!" Makarov shouted.

Before anyone else could do anything, electric crackling filled the hall; the hairs on Lir's arms stood on end. A bright light appeared over the stage, blinding everyone. It faded to reveal Laxus standing next to Evergreen and Bickslow and Freed stood in the upper balcony.

"It's unfortunate that everyone decided to head home, we're just about to start the party."

"I should have known," Makarov growled.

"What the hell are you guys trying to pull?" Wakaba shouted.

"Come on, let's make the Fantasia Festival exciting for once," Laxus said.

Lir's stomach dropped.

"I've had enough of your nonsense, turn them back or else!" Makarov demanded with genuine anger in his voice.

Laxus rolled his eyes, "or what? I've got plenty of hostages."

He put one hand on Lucy's shoulder and let it charge with electricity.

"Wait, stop! What is it that you want?"

An awful, smug smirk crossed Laxus's face and he released Lucy from his grip.

"Glad to see we're on the same page."

"Just tell me what it is that you want, damn it!"

"Nothing much, just a little contest of power."

The guild was silent in anticipation for what that could possibly mean. Lir balled her hands into tight fists and let magic energy start to well up inside her.

"We're going to have a Fairy Tail Battle Royale," Laxus announced. "Last man standing is the winner."

Lir's heart hammered in her chest. She glanced at Gajeel, who was only wearing a disapproving glare.

"Nice and simple, just how I like it," Natsu said, standing up. "I'm fired up now."

"Happy you could see it my way, if nothing else you've got the right attitude," Laxus replied with a little more than a hint of condescension.

"Natsu," Makarov warned.

"This is a festival, right? Let's party!"

"Have you already forgotten how badly he beat you the last time you guys went at it?" Warren asked.

"I was just a kid back then," Natsu stated.

"What do you mean?! That was just last year!" Warren exclaimed.

"Yeah, but since then I've become a man!" Natsu began walking towards the stage, lighting his fists on fire.

Gajeel scoffed.

"On the other hand, I think that attitude is going to get you in a world of hurt. Why don't you sit back down?"

Without even a flick of the wrist, Laxus struck Natsu with a bolt of lightning, launching him across the guild hall. He crashed into a tabled, smashing it to pieces,

"Natsu!" Gray cried.

"I told you so!" Warren shouted.

"If you all want the girls back, you'll have to defeat us first," Evergreen said, bringing the attention back to the problem at hand.

"But those odds aren't bad, there's like four of us and like a hundred of you," Bickslow said before letting out a cackle.

"Lot's of you, lot's of you!" His dolls chanted.

"You have three hours, not a second more. After that, these pretty statues of yours will be reduced to dust," Evergreen said.

"All of Magnolia is the battlefield, the fight will start if you can find us," Laxus added.

"Laxus how could you," Makarov rumbled, using his titan magic to grow to reach the two story ceiling.

"Simmer down, old man. It's all part of the festival," Laxus taunted.

Electric energy filled the room again, along with a painfully bright light. When it faded, the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus were gone, leaving only the petrified girls on stage. There was a split second of unbearable tension before the remaining mages tore out of the guild, ignoring Makarov's pleas to stop. Gajeel seemed content to continue sitting with his arms folded, so Lir got up to check on Natsu who was still squirming on the ground.

"That blasted idiot! What does he think he's doing?" Makarov demanded, storming towards the door.

Lir knelt next to Natsu, "are you alright?"

"Yeahi'mfine," he slurred.

BWAM

A harsh 'denied' sound rang out and Lir whipped her head in its direction. A red barrier of rune letters filled the doorway and Makarov was laying on the ground like he'd been knocked over.

"Just… stay here, Natsu," Lir said, before getting up.

"What on earth," Makarov said, sitting up.

"What is it?"

"Freed's runes, they say 'stone statues and anyone over the age of eighty may not leave the guild hall.'"

"Well I guess it wouldn't be a fair fight for them if you got involved," Lir said.

"I guess not," Makarov said, too frustrated to find it amusing.

"Don't worry Gramps, I got it!" Natsu shouted.

He sprinted full speed for the door.

BWAM

Natsu bounced off the rune barrier like he'd crashed into a solid wall.

"What the hell!?" He exclaimed.

"Natsu quit fooling around," Makarov insisted.

"I'm not! Look!"

Natsu repeatedly punched the barrier with a flame engulfed fist, to no avail. Makarov sighed and let him keep bashing the wall.

"Lir, I hate to ask this of you, but we need your help. I'm not asking you to go up against Laxus…"

"That's kind of what has to be done, though," she replied.

Makarov sighed, "I'm not sure who could defeat him. Mystogan and Gildarts are off the grid and Erza is, well…"

Lir looked back at the statues. Something had to be done, and they were out of options. Maybe she could talk Laxus down, convince him that his plan was unmitigated insanity.

"I'll do whatever I can," she said.

"Thank you," Makarov said with relief.

She stretched a hand out towards the doorway to ensure that the runes wouldn't stop her. BWAM.

"What!?" she shrieked.

She poked at the barrier, that was as solid as a brick wall, again and again. But the runes held fast.

"I'm not over eighty!" she cried indignantly.

She punched the barrier. BWAM

"Hah! It's not just me!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Natsu, that's not a good thing," Lir said.

What could be keeping them in? The only commonality she could think of was dragon slayer magic. But two was just a coincidence, she needed a third to prove her theory.

"Gajeel!"

"What?"

His voice was muffled like it was coming from another room.

"Get out here!"

Heavy footsteps came from the staircase to the basement and Gajeel emerged in the doorway.

"What the hell are you shouting about?"

"What were you doing - nevermind, get over here."

When he got within arms reach of her, she grabbed him and pushed him at the empty front door.

BWAM

"What the hell!?"

"It must be dragon slayer magic," Lir muttered.

"What's goin' on?" Gajeel demanded.

"Freed trapped me and the petrified girls in here, but it seems to have trapped the three of you as well," Makarov said.

"Guess there ain't a lot of hope to beat Laxus then," Gajeel said.

Makarov just let out an indistinct grumble. Lir whacked him on the shoulder.

"It's true. Erza's stuck in here with us, no one else is going to be able to stack up to sparky," Gajeel said.

"I wouldn't underestimate Gray," Makarov said, focusing on the ground.

Gajeel rubbed the healing lightning strike wound on his arm, but didn't say anything.

More words appeared on the rune wall.

"What does that say?" Natsu asked.

"Alzack vs Jet vs Droy," Makarov read.

"I thought they were supposed to be fighting the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus?" Lir asked.

"I… I don't know," Makarov said.

She walked up to the rune barrier and placed her hand on it, producing a much softer denied sound than the one from her collision.

"Why is he doing this?" Lir asked.

"He wants control of the guild," Makarov said, sounding defeated. "He wants to take it over when I retire and mold it into his image of what a strong guild is. He would cast out many of the members who have spent their entire lives here. He would destroy the family that has been created here." Anger rose in his voice as he spoke.

"But as long as I'm alive, that won't happen."

"But why would he want to do that?" Lir asked.

"He feels as though he is trapped under my shadow, known only as 'Makarov's grandson.' His father instilled in him that the most important thing is to be powerful, therefore…" He trailed off.

That would explain the cocky attitude. Of course, he did have the actual power to back up said behavior. Lir felt bad for him, Oceanus had been a good father to her for the short time she was with him. Even though he trained her hard in dragon slayer magic, he never made her believe that's all there was. Maybe he could be talked down still, but she would have been an idiot to believe she could undo years of that mindset with one conversation. A wave of sadness overcame her, Oceanus would know what to do in this situation. He always knew what to do. What had all that training been for if she couldn't solve problems like he could?

New runes started appearing in the doorway. Lir's stomach twisted into a knot, waiting for Makarov to read them."

"Winner: Alzack," he said.

"He's making them fight each other? How?" Lir asked.

"I'd put money on more of Freed's runes," Makarov said.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"There's nothing we can do. Levy is the only one I would think capable of rewriting the runes."

"Are you kiddin' me, Gramps?! We're just going to sit here and wait for Laxus to beat everyone?" Natsu exclaimed.

"There isn't anything else we can do, short of Mystogan or Gildardts making a miraculous appearance," Makarov said.

Natsu let out an enraged shout and flung a fireball at the runes, only for it to dissipate on impact. There wasn't much of a point in standing right up against the rune wall so the four trapped mages dispersed in the main hall. Gajeel and Lir sat on the ground in a good view of the front door and just stared out into empty courtyard in front the building.

"What were you doing in the basement?" she asked.

"Trying to dig a tunnel outta here. But the runes just keep going," he said.

"Ugh," Lir groaned before collapsing backward.

"You seem pretty upset about all of this for someone who's not even in this guild," there was a hint of subtext in his tone.

He was still wondering why she hadn't joined the guild.

"I care about these people, you know. I don't have to be in the guild to do that," she snapped.

"So then why don't you join?" he asked, not even bothering to beat around the bush first.

"I don't have to tell you anything," she said, glowering and looking away.

"You're right. It's stupid though."

"Stupid?" she had to restrain the shriek in her voice.

"Stupid. What do you have to lose by joining?"

"Why do you care?" she demanded.

"What are you afraid of?" he snapped back.

All she could hear was blood rushing in her ears.

"Of being trapped!"

She stood and stormed off. The urge to be outside the guild hall was overwhelming, the walls seemed to be closing in on her. Despite the restriction on non-S-class mages, she tromped up the stairs and went out onto the balcony. If she listened very closely, she could hear the very soft hum of the rune barrier. She leaned on the railing and looked out into the city, the tall buildings obstructed too much of her vision to see what fights were occurring. Her grip tightened on the rail, she wanted to help. Even if she had no hope of beating Laxus, maybe she could take out one of the Thunder God Tribe. Or at least give Laxus a strong slap in the face.

Oceanus, I wish you were here. I need your help.

* * *

Wow, 2k+ pageviews! Thank you all so much for reading this, it's so motivating to see that people are interested! It was harder than I expected to write scenes that occurred in the anime/manga without just writing out the script, I feel like that would get very boring for everyone. I changed some of the dialogue where I thought it got a little stiff or didn't translate to writing well.

The song I chose is Papercut by Linkin Park, which I think deals more with Laxus's mindset than the events of the chapter. It made me think of Ivan and Laxus's relationship and maybe how Laxus feels.


	9. Standing Outside the Fire

Chapter 9: Standing Outside the Fire

The sun had barely moved but it felt as though Lir had been on the balcony for hours. The idea of going back inside seemed an awful one, she'd have to deal with Gajeel again and face the fact that she was trapped in the guild hall. Her chest tightened and a lump formed in her throat. She wanted to leave, she wanted to put as much distance between her and Fairy Tail as possible. There was no way she could cut it in this guild… in any guild. She cursed herself, she knew that already, she had done it once before.

She turned and rested against the balcony railing and found condensation dripping down the windows in her vicinity. When she got worked up her magic would make everything muggy and water would collect on anything around her. And boy was she worked up. At this rate, Makarov would hand the guild over to Laxus and she wanted no part in that. The one mission with him had been bad enough, even if he did get her out of the cave. She couldn't function under a guild master like that.

Had she been so wrong about him? He seemed like he started to warm up to her a little at the end, at least not outright hate her. Then, a lightbulb flicked on in her mind.

 _"Go take a job or something. Just get out of town for tomorrow."_

He _didn't_ want her to be in Magnolia when he started the fight. But why? It made her head hurt. She didn't like the stuff like this that people pulled, it was much easier to go up against mother nature or starvation or exposure. Literally anything else. But she was stuck in the guild hall and at the very least couldn't leave until the three hours were up. She didn't think Laxus would want her in the new Fairy Tail anyway so, worst coming to worst, she could just leave then. But they couldn't just let Laxus steamroll over the whole guild. There had to be a way out. She walked back inside and downstairs to a seemingly empty guild hall, but the scents of Makarov, Gajeel, and Natsu still lingered. She crossed the hall to the rune barrier on the door where new runes were floating.

"It's just the three of us left," Natsu said, appearing next to her.

"Already? It's only been an hour," she replied.

He let out a frustrated growl, "This is ridiculous, I want that fight with Laxus but we're stuck in here because Freed messed up his runes!"

"You _want_ a fight with Laxus?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah! I want to prove that I'm stronger than him once and for all!"

"Is that all this is to you? A big contest? Your guildmates are out there fighting each other and all you can think about is fighting Laxus?"

"I mean, it is a battle royale. That's the point," he said, sounding way too excited about the whole situation.

"Regardless, we're stuck in here, you won't get to fight him if we can't get out."

Natsu hummed and let his eyes wander around the room, trying to find a solution.

"Well we should just free the girls, then they can get out and beat Freed," he said.

"Ok, but we have to defeat Evergreen to undo her spell and I'm pretty sure she's not going to come in here."

"Hmm, I think I got something."

He walked up onto the stage and to the petrified Erza, examining her face closely.

"I'm gonna melt the spell off Erza," he stated as if it was a rational thing to say.

"Natsu, that can't be a good idea," she said.

"Nah, it'll work!" he exclaimed.

"Do you think about anything before you do it?" she demanded.

Natsu ignited a flame in his fist and inched it towards Erza's face.

"What on earth is going on out here?" Makarov demanded, emerging from his office.

But Natsu didn't stop, he just made the flame stronger.

"Natsu, stop!" Makarov shouted.

The rock of Erza's face cracked and Lir and Natsu yelped. The cracks spread and Lir feared that Natsu had broken Erza, killing her. But it seemed that the petrification didn't run that deep, just encased the victims, because the stone cracked off, revealing Erza's normal eye and skin underneath. The rest of the rock cracked and crumbled off of Erza. She blinked several times before starting to move.

"Erza! You're alright!" Natsu exclaimed.

"What… happened? I remember Evergreen showing up and then, nothing," Erza said.

"She turned you guys into stone. Laxus is using all the girls from the Miss Fairy Tail contest as hostages for his… game," Lir said.

"Wait, what is going on?"

"Laxus is having a fight for the strongest person in the guild!" Natsu said.

"Natsu, stop it," Makarov interjected. "Laxus has demanded that I hand over the guild to him if no one can defeat him in the next two hours."

"Has he gone mad?" Erza demanded.

Makarov shook his head, "I'm trapped in here along with the girls. And for some reason, Gajeel, Natsu, and Lir are stuck in here as well. Everyone else has succumbed to the Thunder God Tribe or one of Freed's traps. You are the only one left Erza."

"I'll put Laxus in his place," she said.

"Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow are still roaming the city, I think taking them down first would make it much easier," Makarov said.

"Alright, I'll go after Evergreen, if I can defeat her and make her change the other girls back we will have more back up," Erza added, manifesting a sword from her pocket dimension.

"Good luck," Makarov said.

Erza stalked out of the guild and down the street.

"And now we wait," Makarov sighed before sitting down.

Natsu emanated pure anger, literal heat radiating off of him in waves as he watched Erza leave. Even Gajeel seemed angry, standing with his arms crossed by the front door. Lir walked up to stand between them, not able to tap into their frustration, instead, her chest tightening and a lump forming in her throat again. They stared down the barrier, waiting for new runes to appear. The last remaining chance at beating Laxus was riding on Erza's shoulders, if she lost to Evergreen then the guild would be doomed. To be honest, Lir wasn't worried about Erza losing to Evergreen but getting ganged up on by the entire Thunder God Tribe. Her stomach twisted into a knot, she wanted to sit down, to leave the lineup of dragonslayers. Just because they had the same magic type didn't mean she belonged with them.

More runes appeared on the barrier.

"Evergreen vs Erza," Makarov read.

"Come on, Erza," Natsu growled.

Lir's heart hammered in her ears louder and louder as the minutes dragged on. The desperate need to do something clawed at the inside of her chest like a wild animal. To fight, to leave, literally anything. She realized suddenly that the room was foggy; it must have been her magic and the magic radiating off Natsu mixing together. It just added to the oppressive silence, knowing a high stakes battle was occurring while standing in the dead still guildhall.

New runes appeared on the barrier, Lir's breath caught in her throat.

"Evergreen vs Erza: Victory Erza," Makarov read.

"Hell yeah! Way to go Erza!" Natsu shouted.

Then, the warping sound of a breaking spell filled the hall and the three dragonslayers and Makarov turned to the stage. Gold light covered the girl's bodies and faded to reveal they were no longer stone.

"Girls! Are you alright?" Makarov exclaimed.

"Yeah, I think so. What happened?" Bisca asked.

"Evergreen turned you all into stone!" Natsu shouted.

"What? Why would she do that?" Levy asked.

"Where is everyone?" Lucy asked.

"Laxus has pitted everyone in the guild against each other, trying to determine who is the strongest. He has given us three hours to defeat him or turn over the guild. Erza is the only one out there right now and Freed, Bickslow, and Laxus are still undefeated," Makarov explained.

"What a jerk!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Why are you guys still in here?" Bisca asked, gesturing to Makarov and the dragon slayers.

"Freed placed rune barriers on the guild preventing statues and those over 80 from leaving," he replied.

"So why are you three still here?" Lucy asked.

"No idea," Natsu said.

Lir and Gajeel shrugged.

"We were hoping that Levy would be able to break the barrier and let us out," Natsu said.

Levy hopped off the stage and walked to the barrier before examining the runes closely before tapping it with one finger.

"Well?" Makarov asked.

"They are pretty standard magic runes, but Freed's écriture magic is going to make it harder to break. It requires a lot more specific syntax and grammar structure to undo, especially if it's not done by the caster."

"Can you break it?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Alright, the rest of you, get out there and take down Freed and Bickslow," Makarov commanded.

With that, the rest of the girls charged out of the guild hall, leaving the dragon slayers and Levy and Mirajane behind.

Levy's shoulders slumped and she let out a sigh.

"What is it?" Lir asked.

"It's just… I'm not that good with écriture runes. They're mostly used for magic so I never studied them much."

"I'm sure you can figure it out," Lir said. "If Freed can do it, so can you."

Levy gave a small smile and brushed her hair behind her ear before looking to the basement where the guild library was.

"I'm going to need a lot of books, then," she said.

Lir followed, wanting to get away from Natsu and Gajeel's tense moods. They hurried down the stairs and Levy made an immediate beeline for an aisle of books three to the left and knelt down to the second shelf from the bottom.

"Are you feeling alright?" Lir asked.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to wrap my head around losing all that time. It was like blinking and being shot forward several hours."

"Sounds disorienting," Lir replied, scanning the bookshelves.

Levy hummed in agreement and continued pulling books. It only took a few minutes for her to get everything she wanted, which was a sizeable stack of thick, old tomes. Levy crouched down, wrapped her arms around the books, and then tried to lift with her back rather than her legs, barely getting them an inch off the ground.

"I just can't get them all."

"I got it," Lir said, and hefted all the books at once.

Levy ran up ahead of her to get the door as Lir trudged up the stairs. Levy pushed a table aside, clearing a large, open space on the floor and Lir set the books down

"Do you want help?" she asked.

"Yeah! That'd be great. There are chapters on écriture magic in most of these books, would you find them all?"

"You got it."

Lir flipped through the books, leaving them open on the chapters Levy requested. Levy herself donned a pair of red reading glasses with tiny wings on the side and picked up the first book. An iridescent magic circle appeared over the pages and little letters flew through the circle into the glasses. Levy never spent more than three seconds on a page and stopped frequently to write at lightning speeds on paper scattered on the floor. As Lir neared the end of the stack of books she peered over at what Levy was writing; the papers were covered in runes surrounded by notes in English. Heavy footsteps approached from behind her and Gajeel leaned over the two.

"D'you need any more help?" he asked.

"Yeah, that'd be - " Levy stopped in the middle of her sentence when she looked up to see who it was.

She balked and her eyes went wide. Gajeel's intimidating figure loomed over the two girls on the ground making him look even bigger than normal. His resting bitch face didn't help at all.

"Is there anything else that needs to be done, Levy?" Lir asked.

Levy snapped out of her shock and scribbled a few runes on a sheet of paper and handed it to Lir, avoiding eye contact.

"Could you guys look for these? They should be in here," she said, pushing three books at them.

Lir just nodded and handed a book to Gajeel. An odd expression settled on his face, he almost looked upset. She started reading again, trying to scan the pages for one particular string of unfamiliar runes. It wasn't long before more runes appeared on the barrier. Silence filled the room while they waited for someone to translate.

"Thunder Palace is covering all of Magnolia, it will go off in one hour and ten minutes," Levy read.

"What the hell is Thunder Palace?" Gajeel asked.

"Has he lost his mind?" Makarov shouted. "Threatening the guild is one thing but the entire town of Magnolia?!"

The guild master shot to his feet and stormed to the rune barrier, "damnit Laxus, why would you do this!"

He clutched his chest and his eyes went wide.

"What is it, Gramps?" Natsu asked.

"I think I'm having a heart attack," he said, voice strained.

Mirajane was at his side in an instant. He broke out in a sweat and his breathing started coming in short, shallow draws.

"Mira, what do we do?" Levy asked, fear rising in her voice.

"You stay here and get the dragon slayers out," she said. "I'm going to get Porlyusica."

"You sure that's a good idea? Your magic isn't what it used to be," Natsu said.

"I'll be fine, just take care of the Master."

Mira glanced at everyone in the room, gave a small nod, and then picked up her skirts and ran out of the hall. Levy and Natsu walked Makarov back to his office, leaving Gajeel and Lir alone. She wouldn't look at him so she just kept reading. Levy and Natsu came back after several tense minutes, Levy setting down to continue translating and Natsu continued to pace by front door. Gajeel really wasn't helping look for the runes so Lir picked up the next book. He focused on Levy's manic scribbling. The amount of work she was putting out was incredible.

"You're amazing," Gajeel muttered.

Lir stopped reading but didn't lift her head. Something had gotten into him. While she didn't quite know him that well, she knew that was out of character.

"Thank you," Levy said demurely.

Lir felt like she was intruding so she laid the last book out and got up to go stand by the barrier with Natsu.

"I can't stand this," Natsu said.

"I just want to get out of here," Lir said.

"I know, I'm gonna get that fight with Laxus," he growled.

Lir didn't answer.

They stood, waiting for anything, only the sound of Levy's writing breaking the silence.

"What about the others?" Lir asked.

"What do you mean?"  
"Everyone who went out and got beat by the Thunder God Tribe, they are just laying somewhere, hurt."

"I'm sure they're fine."

Lir gave him a 'come on, really?' face.

"They're Fairy Tail mages, they'll be fine," he said with the utmost confidence.

Lir just shrugged, thinking of Max, Warren, and Vijeeter who had been defeated a while ago and had not shown back up at the guild hall. Just to add to the anxiety, more runes appeared on the barrier.

"Hey Lev, what does this say?" Natsu asked.

Levy looked up from her work, Lir noted Gajeel was now sitting beside her.

"It says: Lucy and Loke vs. Bickslow."

"The cheerleader? No way she can beat him," Gajeel said.

"Nah, Lucy's got this. She's plenty strong," Natsu said.

Levy looked concerned. Lir wasn't totally convinced Lucy could beat Bickslow, he was such an unpredictable fighter. Nonetheless, they stood and watched the barrier. A few minutes later more appeared.

"Knew she couldn't take him," Gajeel said.

"Wait," Levy said. "It says "Lucy and Loke vs Bickslow.""

"They can take him," Natsu said.

Yet again, there was nothing to do besides watch the barrier until more news appeared. Natsu emanated a different kind of heat now, less stunning heat and a more subtle kind of burn. His heart was beating faster for sure. He was worried for Lucy, regardless of what he said. After several more minutes, Lir resigned herself to sitting down but was oddly starting to gain hope for Lucy. The optimistic side of her figured that the longer they went without results, the better of a fight Lucy was putting up. If it was that mismatched of a fight Lucy would have lost right at the beginning.

More runes appeared on the barrier.

"Levy!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Lucy & Loke vs. Bickslow: winner - Lucy & Loke," she read.

"Hell yeah, Lucy!" Natsu shouted.

"She did it!" Levy chimed in.

"The cheerleader beat 'im?" Gajeel asked in disbelief.

"I told you she was strong enough!" Natsu retorted.

Relief flooded the room, Lir released the tension from her shoulders. Somehow, they had

turned a seeming sure defeat into defeating two of the Thunder God Tribe. Only Laxus and Freed remained.

"You three should get ready, I'm going to have that barrier down in a minute," Levy said.

Gajeel got up from her side to join the two other dragon slayers.

"Do we have a plan?" Lir asked, not realizing when she had changed from 'run as far away as possible' to 'go up against the most powerful dragon slayer she'd ever met.'

"I'm going to take Laxus down," Natsu insisted.

"Sure you are," Gajeel scoffed. "What are we actually planning on doing?"

"I think Freed should be the first priority. Laxus will be hard enough to fight by himself, nevermind if they team up," Lir said.

"We should find the redhead chick, She could help take him down," Gajeel added.

"Erza," Lir clarified.

"Looks like Mystogan is in as well," Levy chimed in.

"Who?"

"Mystogan, he's one of the strongest mages in the guild but he's almost never around."

"How'd you know he's here?" Natsu asked.

"He just appeared in the runes," she said, pointing at the barrier.

"No way Laxus can stack up to all of us," Gajeel said.

"Don't forget that Thunder Palace is still up, we have to get rid of that," Lir added.

Silent contemplation overtook the group, even Natsu seemed focused.

"We should split up," Gajeel said. "Can't really plan fight strategy if we don't know where they are. Not to mention Freed's rune traps all over the place."

"Ok, but, what should I do if I find them? There's no way I can beat either of them myself," Lir said.

"Then run. Find someone else that can take 'em," Gajeel said.

"Alright, I think I got it," Levy interjected, running up to the barrier.

She pulled out a light pen, glanced at the sheet of paper in her hand, and then began writing runes on the barrier. Adrenaline started pumping through Lir's body. The pre-fight jitters were raring up, but she was also nervous. Freed and Laxus were smart, they wouldn't let themselves get ganged up on. They'd be proactive and try to take out their competition one by one. So splitting up was really the worst thing they could be doing.

"Hey, maybe we shouldn't -" Lir started to say.

"Got it!" Levy exclaimed.

The barrier broke down in a flurry of runes and Gajeel and Natsu were out the door instantly. Lir stood frozen. She was going to get picked off first. She turned to look at Levy, completely slack-jawed.

"Go get 'em?" Levy said, trying to sound encouraging.

"I mean…" Lir couldn't think of anything good to say.

She jogged out of the guild hall, down Alder street with no idea where she should be going. The odors of the city smothered any scent trails but she kept her senses open in case someone tried to get the drop on her. Why would Gajeel and Natsu leave her alone? Where were the other girls? She took a deep breath, trying to reel it in. If Lucy could beat Bickslow, she had to stand a chance at least against Freed. Right? She shook her head, the overthinking was getting her nowhere fast. She picked up her pace, they had to be somewhere.

But all she was seeing was the looming presence of the Thunder Palace hanging in the air. It scared her that one person could charge all those lacrima. The floating orbs gave off a faint, static crackling and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Her worrying was interrupted by a familiar smell and she skidded to a stop in the middle of the empty road.

Warren.

She sprinted down a side road, through an alleyway, and vaulted over a fence to find the psychic mage on the ground, not moving.

"Warren!" she shouted.

To her relief, he lifted his head, looking at her with alert eyes.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"Natsu, Gajeel, and I were stuck in the guild hall, Freeds runes wouldn't let us out for some reason. What happened to _you_?!"

He looked terrible, clothes torn up, covered in dirt and blood, and generally very pale.

"You know, not much. Just beat up by the Thunder God Tribe."

"The _entire_ Thunder God Tribe?" she asked, incredulously.

"Yeah, I managed to hold off Evergreen and Freed but Bickslow's figure eye magic caught me off guard. I'm not used to people being able to get inside my head."

"Why would they all attack you?"

"My guess is to knock out any communication between guild members. Keep everyone in the dark. My mass telepathy would have been too beneficial for us to have around."

Lir slid her arm under him, slowly helping him up. She'd never got the impression before, but he had to be pretty strong to go up against all three Thunder Gods at once.

"What does the situation look like now?" he asked.

"Better. Natsu and Gajeel are out. The girls have been unpetrified and, um, what's his name? Mystogan? He showed up," she said.

"Mystogan! Well, that's good for us."

She slung his arm over her shoulders and wrapped one arm around his waist to support

his weight. Thankfully, she hadn't made it far from the guild hall so the slow trek back wouldn't be too bad.

"Do you guys have a plan?" he asked.

"Not...really. Natsu and Gajeel kinda took off before we could work anything out."

"Typical," he scoffed. "Well, once I get a little patched up I'll start reaching out to everyone."

Lir nodded. She resisted the urge to walk faster, she wanted to get him to a first aid kit quickly, but she couldn't push him with his injuries. He winced every step so as it was. The guild hall appeared as they rounded a corner.

"Levy!" Lir called out.

A shock of bright blue hair appeared in the doorway.

"Warren!" she shouted before running to meet them.

She took Warren's weight from Lir, letting him lean on her.

"I'll take care of him, you get back out there," she said.

"Ok," Lir replied, turning to go back up the street.

"Keep an eye out for Jet and Droy," Levy called.

"Thank you, Lir!" Warren added.

Lir gave them a wave before taking off running again. She tried a different direction this time, hoping to find more guild members she could help back to the hall. There were so many who were probably just laying in the street like Warren was. A rush of anger flooded her chest. All for some stupid pissing contest. She pressed on, determined to find anyone, even if it meant a fight.

Now that she had spent more time around dragon slayers she had noticed something interesting about their scents. The dragon part was always stronger than whatever element they controlled, so, at a distance, it took her a second to differentiate between Natsu, Gajeel, and Laxus. One of them was nearby so she slowed to a quiet walk. It definitely wasn't Natsu, his naturally smoky scent was stronger than metal, lightning, or water. She pressed herself to the side of a building as she crept up on the other dragon slayer. Her enhanced hearing picked up a deep voice, a trait Laxus and Gajeel shared. The scent of iron reached her and she relaxed a little, she probably wasn't about to die. But she maintained her low profile, who was Gajeel talking to? It didn't seem like anyone else was around.

She crouched down, so she could peek between the corner of the building and a trash can. Gajeel leaned against the wall of the building with a small paper doll, a shikigami, floating near his head.

"We must not let suspicion creep into their minds. Remember to always act as though your heart and soul belong to Fairy Tail," a deep voice coming from the paper doll said.

"As far as they know, I'm a team player," Gajeel replied.

"We have ample time before the hammer drops on that sorry excuse for a guild."

"Yes sir," Gajeel said, the wicked smile appearing on his face.

She suddenly wished she'd run into Laxus instead.

He was selling Fairy Tail out to Ivan Dreyar, she recognized the voice from the Phantom Lord debacle. He was still one of them. Her head spun. Why? Why was he doing this? She thought they were friends, sort of. Did all of that mean nothing? That was it, she had to leave. Nothing was worth dealing with this. She staggered to her feet and ran back towards the main street. Tears welled in her eyes. Why did it hurt so bad? She didn't really know Gajeel that well. Suddenly someone grabbed her wrist, yanking her to a halt.

Of course it was Gajeel.

"What did you hear?" he demanded.

"Nothing!" she exclaimed in the least convincing tone possible.

"Bullshit, what did you hear?"

She wrenched her wrist free of his grip.

"Plenty! You're still working with Ivan!"

He crossed his arms and didn't respond, his face unreadable.

"You're going to sell out your own guild to that scumbag!"

He still said nothing.

"Are you not going to answer me?" she asked, her voice bordering on shrieking.

He walked up to her, taking slow, agonizing steps. She raised her fists.

"Stop it, you're not beating me," he said.

"I did once," she insisted.

"You're not going to tell anyone about this," he stated.

She swallowed hard, was he going to kill her? Tears jumped to her eyes again. What an awful way to go. He got right up in her face, just a few inches away.

"Stop your cryin' I ain't gonna hurt you."

"I'm going to tell them, you can't stop me."

"I mean, Makarov already knows so that won't do you a whole lot of good."

"What?"

"I'm spying on Ivan for Makarov."

"Huh?"

"It's how I'm paying him back for letting me join Fairy Tail. He thinks Ivan is up to something, so I'm keepin' an eye on him."

"How do I know you're not just making that up?"

He shifted his weight from one foot to another, "you don't. You'll have to ask Makarov once this is over."

"That's not a convincing argument," she said.

"I'm aware," he said, scowling.

Awkward silence descended upon them. Thoughts ran through her head at a mile a minute. He could be lying, trying to save his cover. But Gajeel struck her as a person who wouldn't leave loose ends unattended. Both stories seemed equally likely.

"We're waistin' time, think about it while you look for Laxus," he said before taking off down the street.

The air around her became so muggy that the condensation even stuck to her own skin.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" she asked.

More than ever she wished Oceanus was there. He would have known what to do, who to trust. But he was gone. He'd disappeared without a word seven years ago and not a lot had gone right since then. Now she was in the middle of a guild war of a guild she wasn't in, getting jerked around by someone she considered a… she wasn't even sure what she considered Gajeel. That was it, she should just leave. She tried, she really did, but it wasn't going to work. The idea of being tied down to all of this scared her. She took off, heading east for the nearest edge of Magnolia. Guilt washed over her, the Fairy Tail mages were counting on her to help them and she was bailing out. But this wasn't her fight. She didn't fit in with them.

A deafening boom split the air. Slightly to the southeast of where Lir was headed an enormous, dark blue and black magic circle sprung forth in the forest about a mile away. Lir was smacked with a wave of fear and rage and a dark magic. What the hell could that even be? Freed's magic? She stopped running. Oceanus's voice in the back of her head told her to run to the magic circle and help whoever was inevitably was in trouble. The feeling in her gut told her to run and not look back. Mugginess filled the air. The image of Warren laying in the street injured popped into her head. Could she leave knowing that was happening to someone else? On the other hand, could she stay and get sucked into another guild? Her heart pounded at a mile a minute. But she thought of the mission with Max, Warren, and Vijeeter, and Gajeel coming to her place after getting beat up. A small part of her, buried way down, screamed that she didn't want to give that up. It wouldn't be like it had been before. They wouldn't trap her. Hell, she didn't even know this Mystogan guy existed until half an hour ago.

An unstable laugh escaped her. She felt like she was having an out of body experience. Lir Elodea, sticking around a guild. What had the world come to? She started running for the magic circle and city buildings rapidly gave way to a scattered forest and the river. She picked up Freed's scent when a flash of movement in the air caught her eye. Mirajane, with huge, demonic wings, a tail, and a red bodysuit. Her white hair floated like it was suspended in weightlessness and a steely gaze replaced her soft, blue eyes. Freed zipped by with wings made of his runes, but too close to Mira as she smacked him with enough force to send him crashing into one of the bridges from over a hundred feet up. A huge cloud of dust and cobble launched into the air. Freed burst from the debris and shot across the surface of the lake before peeling up into the sky. Mirajane appeared behind him a split second later. They hovered in the air, staring each other down for a moment before Mira opened a smaller, black magic circle with her hand. Long tendrils of shadowy energy shot forth, twisting and weaving in the air, trying to snatch Freed. He countered with his sword, but her spell was stronger and smashed it to pieces.

Freed fled back into the rocky outcroppings beyond the river, Mira gave chase. They vanished into the stone structures and all Lir could hear were the explosions and crashes of their fight. Then, a towering black tornado erupted from the rocks. What the hell kind of magic were they using? Mira broke the tornado, only to be swatted out of the air by Freed, who now looked like a demon himself. She crashed into the river and didn't immediately resurface. Lir jolted towards the riverbank only to screech to a halt when a whirlpool covering the entire width of the river appeared. Mira shot herself at Freed, propelled by a tower of water, and crashed into him, knocking him back.

She opened up a magic circle larger than she was tall. Freed froze in panic.

"Soul extinction!" Mira shouted.

She released a beam of purple-black energy that devoured Freed and produced a gargantuan explosion that kicked up a lot of dust. Lir braced herself against the force from the blast. When the magic cleared, Freed was on the ground on the other side of the river, back in his normal form. Mira touched down in front of him. She wasted no time jumping on him, preparing to land a punch square on his head. But she stopped an inch away. Lir took several steps towards the river, not sure what she was going to do. Then, a purple light engulfed Mirajane and peeled away in tendrils of billowing magic energy to reveal her normal form, slightly battered.

"I don't understand, why did you stop?" he asked.

"Because this battle is meaningless," Mira replied.

"You can spare me your false pity, Mira. Just finish me off," he said.

Lir strained to hear, even her dragon slayer hearing having a hard time picking them up so far away.

"I won't do that because we are allies, both members of Fairy Tail."

Cana and Elfman, who was carrying an unconscious Juvia, walked up to them. In all the commotion Lir hadn't noticed them.

"That means we work together, we celebrate together, and we grow together," Mira said.

"No! You're wrong, Laxus is my only true ally!" Freed exclaimed.

"It doesn't have to be that way. Listen, we've been your friends since the very beginning. It's perfectly fine to have that one person you trust more than anybody else. It's human nature, but that doesn't mean you have to shut out the rest of us. We're all part of something bigger, we're like family."

She took Freed's hand, "if you'll just reach out, I promise there'll always be someone there for you. Once you're finally able to see that connection you'll never forget that it's there."

For the millionth time that day Lir was overcome with emotion. Tears welled in her eyes that she tried to rub out before they could escape.

"You're surrounded by people who care for you."

Her speech seemed to have the same impact on Freed, who began crying.

"I never wanted it to come to this," he choked out.

"Yeah, I know that," she replied. "How about next year we enjoy the harvest festival together?"

Lir's breath caught in her throat and a single sob escaped her. Forget about tugging at the heartstrings, Mira had just yanked them like she had rip started a chainsaw. It was the same feeling she got when she thought about Oceanus, that desire for belonging and close bonds.

She had to go back. She had to help fight Laxus. Even if she never joined the guild, she had to help them. They were her friends.

* * *

Thank you all so much for reading! Let me know what you think of the story, I hope you all find it exciting. I'm mostly trying to focus on making Lir's character consistent because I see a lot of OCs that really don't have a distinct character and fluctuate to whatever the writer wants for a particular situation. She definitely became more anxious than I wrote her in the outline, but I think it's going to work out well for overall character arc. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Having a reader's perspective is really helpful!

The song is by Garth Brooks, Lir really starts to struggle with leaving vs staying in this chapter and the song seems to be about you're not really living if you're standing outside the fire (ie chaos/risks of life). Right now she's standing outside the fire and not fully living life, she has to jump in and take some risks.


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